White Wedding (Parts 1 And 2) - Shotgun Mix / 24-Bit Digitally Remastered 2001

Despite rumors to the contrary, this song is not about Idol's actual little sister. "Little sister" is slang for girlfriend. He is singing about a woman/girl he loves marrying someone else while he still loves her. Idol did have a sister who was getting married, but on an episode of VH1 Storytellers, he explained that his sister's wedding simply gave him the idea for the song. Like many of Idol's compositions, he started with the title and wrote the song from there.

The video for this song help launch Billy Idol to stardom. It was directed by David Mallet, who had worked with Queen and David Bowie. Idol had little cash, so Mallet cut him a break on his fee. The concept was a "nightmare wedding," with a Goth guy (Idol) marrying a normal girl, with some vampire imagery thrown in. The bride was played by Perri Lister, who was Billy's girlfriend. The resulting video contained some of the most indelible images seen on MTV, including the barbed-wire wedding ring, the motorcycle crashing through the church window, and the dancers slapping their own butts in time to the music. Mallet said of Idol in the book I Want My MTV: "In those days, he was the greatest looker and mover since Elvis. Before 'White Wedding,' nobody would have admitted that was even possible. One look at that video and they got him."

A key element to this song is the quick little guitar riff that starts it. Idol and his guitarist, Steve Stevens, liked to have a distinctive guitar part to open the songs - they thought of it like a flag harkening its arrival.