Rebel Yell (song)


"Rebel Yell" is a song by English rock musician Billy Idol. The title track of his 1983 album of the same name, it was first released as the album's lead single on 24 October 1983. It charted outside the UK Top 40, but a re-issue of the single in 1985 reached No. 6. In the US, it peaked at No. 46. The song was named the 79th best hard rock song of all time by VH1 based on a public voting in 2009, although the song did not show up in a revised list from 2013.

Composition and lyrics

At a televised performance of VH1 Storytellers, Idol said that he had attended an event where Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Ronnie Wood of The Rolling Stones were taking swigs from a bottle of "Rebel Yell" bourbon whiskey. He was not familiar with the brand, but he liked the name and decided to write a "Rebel Yell" song.
The song was co-written by guitarist Steve Stevens. The instrumental introduction, which sounds like a combination of electric guitar and electronic keyboard, is performed by Stevens on guitar alone, who intended it to sound this way. Stevens states that he was inspired by acoustic guitarist Leo Kottke's style.

Formats and track listings

  1. "Rebel Yell"
  2. "Crank Call"
  1. "Rebel Yell"
  2. "Crank Call"
  3. "White Wedding"
  1. "Rebel Yell"
  2. " Stand in the Shadows♱"
♱Recorded live at Hollywood Palladium Los Angeles, California, March 1984.
  1. "Rebel Yell "
  2. " Stand in the Shadows♱"
  3. "Blue Highway♱"
♱Recorded live at Hollywood Palladium Los Angeles, California, March 1984.

Charts

Notes:
In 1994 Idol released the single "Speed", a song from the box office hit movie of the same name, with a live acoustic version of "Rebel Yell" accompanying the lead song on the UK CD single release.

In popular culture

Idol performed the track with Miley Cyrus at the 2016 iHeart Festival.

Scooter cover

In 1996, the song was covered by German dance band Scooter. It was released in May 1996 as the third single of their second album, Our Happy Hardcore.

Track listings

;CD-maxi – Germany
  1. "Rebel Yell"
  2. "Rebel Yell"
  3. "Euphoria"
; 12-inch-maxi – Germany
  1. "Rebel Yell"
  2. "Stuttgart
  3. "Euphoria"
; CD-single – France
  1. "Rebel Yell"
  2. "Euphoria"
;12-maxi – France
  1. "Rebel Yell"
  2. "Rebel Yell"
  3. "Euphoria"
;CD-maxi – Australia
  1. "Rebel Yell"
  2. "Let Me Be Your Valentine"
  3. "Rebel Yell"
  4. "Euphoria"
  5. "Let Me Be Your Valentine"
  6. "Eternity"
  7. "Silence of T.1210 MKII"

    Charts

Year-end charts