"White Wedding" is a song by the English rock singer Billy Idol that was released as the second single from his eponymous debut studio album in 1982. Although not Idol's highest-charting hit, it is often considered one of his most recognizable songs. In the US, it peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard Bubbling Under the Hot 100 chart on 27 November 1982, then reached No. 36 on the Billboard Hot 100 on 2 July 1983 after it was re-issued. In the UK, it reached No. 6 in the UK Singles Chart upon its re-release there on 1 July 1985, when it was re-issued to promote the Vital Idol remix album.
In an interview for The Rock Show on BBC Radio 2 broadcast 15 August 2025, Idol described his inspiration for the lyrics. His sister, referred to in the line "Hey little sister..." was about to get married and was already pregnant - what would traditionally be a "Shotgun Wedding."
Upon its release, Gavin Martin of the NME was negative in his review, calling it "hopelessly cobbled together" with a "jerky syn-drum, Billy trying to sound aggressive about marriage, and the whole thing thrown off balance with a raunchy Stones guitar riff hammering away in the background". In the US, Cash Box described it as "a powerful entry" whose "ominous guitar intro" and "accusatory tone" command attention.
The music video, featuring Idol attending a goth wedding, is one of his best-known. The bride is played by Perri Lister, Idol's real-life girlfriend at the time. She is also one of the three dancers clad in black leather, who slap their buttocks in time with the clap track in the song as they shimmy downwards near the end. "That's the kind of thing they love in England", says Idol.
In one scene, Idol forces a wedding ring made of barbed wire onto Lister's finger and cuts her knuckle. Lister insisted that her knuckle actually be cut in order for the scene to appear more realistic. MTV initially removed this scene from the video. Also controversial were the apparent Nazi salutes made by the crowd toward the couple. Director David Mallet says he was merely "playing with the power of crowd imagery" when he had the extras reach toward the bride and did not realize how it looked until after it was filmed.
The MTV-edited version of the video is included on the DVD portion of ' CD/DVD package.
The song was featured in the 1998 film The Wedding Singer (in which Idol appears), on the American TV series My Name Is Earl and on the British TV series Blackpool.
Idol performed the song as part of the pre-game entertainment for the 2002 NRL Grand Final in Sydney, Australia. Idol entered the playing field on a hovercraft when he managed to sing only two words before a power failure prematurely ended the performance.
The line "It's a nice day to start again" was featured on the sticker on the front of Idol's 2005 album, Devil's Playground.
The song is featured in the 1985 Italian horror film Demons.
On The Colbert Report, a couple who had been prevented from marrying at the Jefferson Memorial, by the 2013 government shutdown, were married. The couple shared their first dance as Audra McDonald sang the song.
The German heavy metal singer Doro Pesch featured a cover of "White Wedding" on her 2000 album Calling the Wild.
The American metal band In This Moment was set to collaborate with Idol on the track "Black Wedding" off their sixth album Ritual; the song's chorus contains the line, "it's a nice night for a black wedding," an obvious homage to Idol's "White Wedding." Due to claimed scheduling difficulties, Rob Halford of Judas Priest was featured on the track instead.
Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison's side project â the US horror punk band Murderdolls â reached number 24 on the UK Singles chart in 2003 with their cover of "White Wedding."
The American rock band Queens of the Stone Age released a cover of the song in 2007.
7â³: Chrysalis â CHS 2656 (UK)
12â³: Chrysalis â CHS 12 2656 (UK)
7â³: Chrysalis â CHS 2648 (US)
12â³: Chrysalis â EPC 5002 (US)
12â³: Chrysalis â 4V9 42685 (US)
7â³: Chrysalis â CHS 42697 (US)
7â³: Chrysalis â IDOL 5 (UK)
12â³: Chrysalis â IDOLX 5 (UK)