Billy Idol Opens Up About The Inspiration Behind 'Bitter Taste'

Billy Idol got candid about the story behind his new song "Bitter Taste."

During his exclusive and intimate iHeartRadio ICONS event, Idol explained that the song is inspired by a pivotal time in his life, following his motorcycle accident and reflecting on his drug abuse. He explained:

"So I thought maybe there's something else that I could write about. There was a time in my life, there was a bit of a watershed moment where I knew it was going to change where I was going in the future. I knew my life wasn't going to be exactly the same, and I had to make decisions about my life and things. Well, I thought back to the motorcycle accident I had because it was my fault I had this accident. I was riding high on a motorcycle, I was a bit of a drug addict. So when I was even lying in the hospital, I was thinking, 'Man, I've got to change what I'm doing. I cannot stay doing what I've been doing. It's ruining me, really.' And so it was a watershed time, it was a problem time, confusing time, many emotions and things. And I just thought, well, maybe if I write about this kind of time when I had to think into the future and correct my life, I had two children, Willem and Bonnie — they were three or four years old. And I was really thinking, 'What am I saying to them as well by being a drug addict?' So I just thought, well, maybe writing about that motorcycle accident and how it changed my life, and how I survived it one way or another."