Watch Billy Idol Join Foo Fighters For A Raucous Sex Pistols Cover In Aspen

Billy Idol guested with Foo Fighters at the Jazz Aspen Snowmass Labor Day Experience Festival in Aspen, Colorado on Sunday. The renowned rocker helped FF out on a cover of the Sex Pistols’ “Pretty Vacant.”

Written by original bassist Glen Matlock, “Pretty Vacant” arrived as the Sex Pistols third single overall on July 2, 1977. The track later appeared on the punk pioneers’ sole studio album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols, which arrived in October 1977.

Billy Idol, who performed at JAS ahead of FF, emerged with Foo Fighters four songs into their set to sing lead on the Sex Pistols classic. Idol has been performing “Pretty Vacant” with the supergroup Generation Sex, comprised of Idol and his former Generation X bandmate bassist Tony James along with Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones and drummer Paul Cook. Generation Sex recently wrapped a European and UK tour.

In an interview with The Times, Idol noted that Generation Sex would cover “Pretty Vacant” but not another Sex Pistols classic.

“We’re not doing ‘Anarchy in the U.K.,” Idol told The Times. “It’s such a Johnny Rotten song. ’God Save the Queen’ and ‘Pretty Vacant,’ I can get away with those.”

Idol delivered a blistering vocal performance on “Pretty Vacant” with Foo Fighters, a debut as per SetlistFM stats, in Aspen backed by a wall of punk rock from the band. Foo frontman Dave Grohl and Billy Idol shared a microphone on one of the rollicking choruses.

Watch Foo Fighters debut “Pretty Vacant” with Billy Idol below:

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FF kicked off their JAS set with “All My Life” off their 2002 album, One by One. The band delivered additional favorites like “The Pretender,” “Learn To Fly,” “Times Like These” and “My Hero” along with “Show Me How,” a tribute to late drummer Taylor Hawkins from the band’s latest studio album, But Here We Are. Foo Fighters concluded their set with classic closer “Everlong.”

Next up for Foo Fighters are a couple dates in Brazil before returning to the U.S. Check out the band’s and Billy Idol’s itineraries:

Setlist

Source: JamBase.com