Billy Idol has released the official video for ‘John Wayne’, his collaboration with The Kills vocalist Alison Mosshart, lifting one of the standout moments from his 2025 album Dream Into It back into the spotlight.
Directed by Steven Sebring, the clip trades on classic western imagery, drawing on spaghetti western cinema and pop art in equal measure. Idol describes the concept as rooted in shared taste, calling it “inspired by our mutual love of westerns and spaghetti westerns” and a nod to masters such as Sergio Leone and Andy Warhol. He has been generous about his guest too, crediting Mosshart with lifting both the recording and the film.
The pairing has history. The two first performed ‘John Wayne’ together at Idol’s State Line: Live At The Hoover Dam event in 2023, and that chemistry convinced him to capture the duet properly for Dream Into It. Mosshart, known for her work in The Kills and The Dead Weather, brings a grit and swagger that suits the song’s outlaw swing.
Dream Into It, issued in April 2025 through Dark Horse Records and BMG, marked Idol’s first full studio album since 2014’s Kings & Queens Of The Underground. Its arrival has coincided with a wider reappraisal of his career, including a first nomination for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the feature documentary Billy Idol Should Be Dead, directed by Jonas Åkerlund, now streaming on Sky in the UK and Hulu in the US.
Idol shows no sign of easing off. His It’s A Nice Day To Tour Again run, which sold out venues across the US, Europe and Latin America, returns this summer, with the next leg opening at The Pavilion at Montage Mountain in Scranton on 7 August.
We think ‘John Wayne’ is one of the more characterful cuts on Dream Into It, and the video finally gives Mosshart’s contribution the spotlight it deserves while reminding everyone that Idol remains a genuine showman.
