White Wedding (song)

7″: Chrysalis - CHS 2656 (UK)

1. "White Wedding" (3:30)
2. "Hole in the Wall" (4:14)

12″: Chrysalis - CHS 12 2656 (UK)

1. "White Wedding (Parts 1 and 2)" (8:20)
2. "White Wedding" (3:30)
3. "Hole in the Wall" (4:14)

7″: Chrysalis - CHS 2648 (US)

1. "White Wedding" (3:30)
2. "Dead on Arrival" (3:54)

12″: Chrysalis - EPC 5002 (US)

1. "White Wedding (Parts 1 and 2)" (8:20)
2. "White Wedding (Part 2)" (4:27)

12″: Chrysalis - 4V9 42685 (US)

1. "White Wedding (Parts 1 and 2)" (8:20)
2. "White Wedding (Part 2)" (4:27)

7″: Chrysalis - CHS 42697 (US)

1. "White Wedding" (3:30)
2. "Dead on Arrival" (3:54)

7″: Chrysalis - IDOL 5 (UK)

1. "White Wedding" (3:30)
2. "Mega-Idol Mix" (5:34)

• 7" Mega-Idol comprises "Flesh For Fantasy" and "Hot in the City"

12″: Chrysalis - IDOLX 5 (UK)

1. "White Wedding Parts I & II (Shot Gun Mix)" (8:20)
2. "Mega-Idol Mix" (7:50)

• 12″ Mega-Idol comprises "Flesh For Fantasy," "Hot in the City" and "Dancing With Myself"

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.[3]

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.[3] MTV initially removed this scene from the video.[4] 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.[3]

The MTV-edited version of the video is included on the DVD portion of The Very Best of Billy Idol: Idolize Yourself 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. It was also featured in the 1993 film True Romance during the scene where Alabama is being tattooed. It was also featured in the skate videos CKY and Toy Machine's Jump Off A Building.

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 was remixed as (Trashcan Jack vs Billy Idol) "Club Wedding" (Frenetic) under Digital Dog's Jack Rokka guise. It has appeared on numerous dance compilations such as Wild Bassline (CD2 Mixed by Brooklyn Bounce) and Clubland 12.

The song is included in the video games Rock Band 2, Rock Band Unplugged, Guitar Hero Van Halen, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and as DLC in Rocksmith.

The song was also used in an advertisement for British soap opera Hollyoaks, promoting the week of a wedding storyline. It also featured in an episode of the 2004 BBC miniseries Blackpool as part of the story.

The track also appeared on an advert for Coronation Street in 2003, promoting the climax of a bigamous storyline involving the character Peter Barlow. Barlow, portrayed by Chris Gascoyne, was seated at a table, reflectively spinning his two wedding rings around.

On The Colbert Report, a couple who had been prevented from wedding at the Jefferson Memorial, by the 2013 government shutdown, were married. The couple shared their first dance as Audra McDonald sang the song.[5]

A version sung in Greek by George Kostoglou appears in My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2.

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.[6]

Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison's side project – the US horror punk band Murderdolls – reached number 24 on the UK Singles chart in 2003 with their cover of "White Wedding."[7]

Deathstars made a version of White Wedding as a bonus track for their debut album Synthetic Generation. This version, played in A minor on instruments tuned down two whole steps, is a diminished fifth below the standard B minor version.

In the episode "Dyeing is Easy, Comedy is Hard" (S04E15) of Will & Grace (2002), Will Truman references this song when Elliot, Jack McFarland's son, appears with a short blond hair.

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics