Billy Idol Reflects On ’80s Club Days With Drew Barrymore

Billy Idol is feeling nostalgic about his wild New York City nights — and so is Drew Barrymore.

The punk legend appeared on The Drew Barrymore Show this week, where he and the actress reflected on their shared experiences in the 1980s club scene. Though Barrymore was still a child at the time, she grew up frequenting legendary venues like Studio 54 and Limelight — often in the company of musicians like Idol.

“Please, control room, tell me you have the picture of me and Billy at Limelight, the club,” Barrymore said, as a black-and-white photo of the two from 1986 appeared onscreen. “Yes! I mean, Billy, that is where I see us when I think of you in my mind is back in the old club days. What the hell do you remember from those days?”

“Not very much,” Idol replied with a laugh, prompting Barrymore to joke, “Me neither — I was hoping you could color stuff in for me.”

Even if the memories are hazy, Idol said he remembers the freedom of the era vividly. “It was a really incredible time. I really enjoyed those ‘80s years. New York was kind of bankrupt so anything kinda went. It was like post-apocalyptic… you felt like the end of the world had sort of happened.”

Barrymore smiled as she recalled how much the rocker meant to her growing up. “The only thing I knew was that I loved you, I got to hang out with you, we were obviously playful and silly.”

The two reunited years later when Idol made a memorable cameo in 1998’s The Wedding Singer, which Barrymore starred in alongside Adam Sandler. “I was so excited to be together again,” she said. “It felt like, ‘Oh! Just yesterday we were like, out in the clubs together!’”

As their conversation came to a close, Barrymore became visibly emotional. “I’m really in a very nostalgic sort of avalanche in my mind,” she said. “It just doesn’t feel like any time has gone by. I feel like we’re back in the club, we’re at The Wedding Singer, we’re doing our thing. You don’t look any different. You look good!”

She added, “God, I miss dancing so much. I miss the clubs! And those places played, as we said, every type of music, but you really pushed through and… changed the world. We all thank you for that.” Idol added, “It was a super fun time.”