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Unlike most musicians, when Billy Morrison asks the dreaded question: “Do you know who I am?” he’s expecting a shake of the head. For 57 years, the British guitarist has slipped expertly below the radar, managing to be both phenomenally successful and able to walk the streets unmolested – despite a solid-gold resumé that includes Billy Idol, The Cult, Camp Freddy and a talk show with best friend Ozzy Osbourne.
It’s a dual existence that the good-humoured Morrison nodded to on the title of his recent documentary Who The F%@k Is Billy Morrison?. But with his excellent new solo album Hollow building on the massive success of 2024 single Crack Cocaine, the guitarist might soon join the ranks of the A-listers he’s here to talk about.
Duff McKagan
I didn’t meet Duff when he was doing that [debauchery] shit. I met him after he had become an investor and a business brain. Early in our relationship, we were both on an overnight Virgin Atlantic flight from LA to Heathrow. Most of the plane was asleep, but in Upper Class there’s a bar. And Duff spent the whole flight teaching me about financial investments. I’m looking at him, thinking: “You’re Duff McKagan – the one whose fucking pancreas exploded – and I’m talking to you about how to invest.” But he knows his shit. It’s common knowledge that he invested in Starbucks, because he comes from Seattle. So if ever I need financial help, I call Duff.
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Lemmy
I do these occasional all-star shows in LA, where we play covers with a bunch of famous people. About twenty-five years ago, Ozzy gave me Lemmy’s cell number and said: “Drop him a line, he’s easy to deal with.” So I cold-texted Lemmy Kilmister. And I’m terrified. Because I don’t know how this legend of debauchery is going to respond. I just wrote: ‘Hey Lemmy, I’m a friend of Ozzy’s. I’m doing this gig at the Roxy. Would you come down and play Ace Of Spades and Bomber with us?’ Within seconds, he responded: ‘If you have a bottle of Jack Daniel’s and an eighth of Beryl’ – that’s Beryl Reid, which is Cockney rhyming slang for speed – ‘I’ll be there.’
At that show he was everything you would want Lemmy to be. His tech brought down his famous Marshall amp. It was ridiculously loud. The cowboy hat, the voice, the volume – he killed it. I don’t think [playing under the influence] made any difference. This is where everyone goes wrong in the music business, me included. You think you’re great, but you’re shit. There are precious few – Keith Richards being one, Lemmy being another – where, actually, it makes no difference. I’ve seen the man drink a bottle of Jack and snort three grams of speed, then I’d have a conversation with him.
Ozzy Osbourne
We were friends for twenty-eight years. Best friends, life shit, y’know? The first night I met him was at one of Sharon’s parties – this was when The Osbournes was on TV – and it was the most lavish party you’ve ever seen. I mean, there were real reindeer walking around, in real snow – in LA, when it’s eighty degrees outside! I don’t know how she pulled it off.
So I’m wandering around this beautiful Beverly Hills house, just so intimidated by the opulence. I’m not very good in those social circumstances. So I just opened this door off the kitchen, walked in and shut it behind me. The room was dimly lit, but I looked over and Ozzy was sitting on the couch by himself. He just said: “Hello, mate. You’re English? Sit down.” It was the most welcoming thing. And his first gesture was saying: “Want some chocolate?” He had this huge tray full of Topics, Flakes, Marathons, every English chocolate. He was like: “You like Topics? I fucking hate ’em!”
He was the funniest man I’ve ever known. We’d be like nine-year-olds, shaking with laughter at the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame – Sharon would be like: “Shut the fuck up!” Late at night we’d be texting each other stupid, immature shit, then I’d get a text from Sharon saying: ‘Stop texting my old man, he’s laughing so much the bed’s shaking!’
Billy Idol
I’ve been playing with Billy for eighteen years. He’s a cool motherfucker. And he knows he’s a cool motherfucker. Y’know, he comes to rehearsal on a fucking Harley. He’s Billy fucking Idol, that’s who he is. Let me tell you how cool Billy Idol is. Every singer on the planet forgets the words – if you’re not miming. Or they go out of tune. Because it’s noisy up there. But not many rock stars are cool enough to go: “Hold on, stop playing.” More than once I’ve seen Billy turn around to the band and say: “I fucked that up. Let’s go from the top.” Like, the audience deserves to hear it played right, y’know?
George Clinton
This is no word of a lie. The all-star band I was telling you about had a corporate gig at an old theatre in Hollywood. So around three o’clock in the afternoon, we’re soundchecking, and I see this homeless guy wander in. As he walks closer, I’m like: “That’s fucking George Clinton.” He’s got all the multi-coloured dreads and all of that. He walks right up to the stage and goes: “I want to play.” So I ask him: “Do you know The Clash, Should I Stay Or Should I Go?” And he says: “Yeah.” Which he didn’t. He had no idea how it goes. So we play it in soundcheck, and he’s just doing some shit in the mic. Then he says: “I’ll be back later.” So off he goes, and we’re all like: “There’s no way George is coming back.”
But I kid you not. I’m in the dressing room at eight-thirty p.m., when George walks in and says: “I’m ready.” And he got up and did Should I Stay Or Should I Go. Did he pull it off? I don’t remember, but probably not. Two days later, he got arrested for crack.
Nick Cave
Nick Cave won’t know who I am. But back in the day – I’m talking mid-eighties – the drug scene was in Brixton. Nick has given many interviews about his heroin addiction. I’ve given interviews about mine, and we were all in the same place. In the heroin scene, you had a dealer and he would be living in a squat, and that squat would have thirty people in it at all times, rotating, just a constant stream of people knocking at the door. This person sold heroin to not only me, but Nick Cave, Nico from the Velvet Underground and a few others.
I mean, I’ve stepped over Nick Cave shooting smack. He’s stepped over me shooting smack. But what gives me pleasure is to see people get out of that. Nick was way too talented to just die in a squat in Brixton. It was obvious he was one of the most intelligent people. A lot of heroin addicts are, man, and that’s the sad thing. There’s a lot of lost intelligence in heroin addiction.
Shirley Manson
The way I met Shirley was at a rehearsal complex in LA when we were getting ready to go on a big Billy Idol tour. I’m a bit of a flightcase whore. I like them to look sharp. It’s ridiculous, they get banged about on trucks. But you would be shocked at the level of bling that goes into my flightcases. I’m a visual artist as well. So I was spraying a stencil of a Playboy bunny with a Star Wars Stormtrooper face onto one of my cases. And I turn around and Shirley Manson’s there. She’s down on her knees, looking at the stencil, and she’s like: “That’s fucking brilliant. Can you do one on my guitar case?” So we exchanged numbers.
She’s a female Lemmy – she takes no shit. I’ve been on the receiving end of that too, but in a very loving way. I’ve been at dinner with her, and I’ve said something, and she’s turned around and said: “Don’t talk shit.” She’ll tell you how it is. And what’s not to love about that?
The Cult
Billy Duffy has known me since my heroin addiction. And because Billy lived in Brixton, he has a story about stepping over me to get out of his house. I had OD’d in his living room, apparently. But that’s not my story, because I don’t fucking remember it.
I had a baptism of fire when I joined The Cult. I auditioned, and Duffy said: “You’ve got the gig. We’re going on tour in a month.” But the first day, I show up early for pre-production rehearsals in this huge warehouse, and Ian [Astbury] and Billy have a massive argument. No idea what about. They’re like brothers, so they argue fiercely and often. And I’m standing there, like, “Fuck, what’s going on?” Both of them walk out, they go home.
The manager texts me later, saying: ‘We’re cancelling the rehearsals.’ So my first gig is at RFK Stadium in Washington, which is seventy thousand people. It’s just: “See you on stage in Washington”, and that’s what happened.
Adam Ant
I was a huge Adam And The Ants fan, but I’m not talking about the white-stripe-across-the-nose era. Way before that, they were one of the coolest punk rock bands on the planet. The guitar player was Matthew Ashman, and he was also in Bow Wow Wow and the Chiefs Of Relief. Unfortunately, he’s no longer with us. But on the fifteenth anniversary of Matthew’s death – and this shows how stupid I am, or tenacious – I had a thought: “What would be fun is if I resurrect all three of Matthew’s bands for one night only.”
Well, I did it. I organised a one-off night at the Scala, from a tour bus in America. And Adam agreed to do the gig. But… I’m gonna try and phrase this as nicely as I can. Adam has had [mental health] episodes in the past. And on the run-up to that gig I’m not sure whether he was having an episode, but there were some really anxious phone calls between me and him about the charitable nature of this show.
It was a charity show, I donated the money. But he wasn’t sure that that was gonna happen, based on his experience at Live Aid or something like that. So there were these really heavy twenty-five-minute phone calls where I didn’t speak, and Adam ranted down the phone. But, God bless him, we did the gig, he showed up, he was fucking brilliant.
About a year later, I ran into him again at Heathrow, and he was completely different. He was like: “Oh, hello, mate, how are you?” Chit-chat, chit-chat. So I still love Adam, but it was touch-and-go there for a second.
Cypress Hill
I’m mainly friends with B-Real and Sen Dog. We invited them to come and do (Rock) Superstar with us. So we had a trailer backstage just for Cypress Hill. We were on La Brea Avenue in Hollywood, doing a PlayStation party, and they’d shut the whole street down. About an hour before showtime, I went to knock on their trailer. And this door opened, and a nuclear-sized cloud of weed smoke enveloped me.
The next thing, about thirty people start coming out of this trailer that’s built to hold ten. These guys travel with an entourage. They are the epitome of hip-hop royalty. So they’re piling towards the stage, and one of them’s got a big glass bong that he’s walking down La Brea smoking. They hadn’t even legalised weed yet.
So I’m panicked. I’m looking around. But they don’t give a shit, y’know? When you first meet them, you don’t want to be the guy that’s like [coughing]. But since then I’ve learned that I’m allowed to say: “I’ve got to get some fresh air.” Y’know, B and Sen, they respect the fact I’m sober, and when I’ve worked in their studio I literally walk out every fifteen minutes and take a deep breath.
Al Jourgensen
The first time I met him, we were doing a charity show, and it was my idea that Ministry should do Iggy Pop’s Search And Destroy. Al was like: “I love Iggy Pop, no problem.” So he comes down, he’s great, he’s gracious, he does the soundcheck and nails it. But between soundcheck and the gig, Al takes some mushrooms and smokes the strongest weed. Even he’s not sure what was in that joint. So he comes on stage and he takes the microphone, and I’m like: “This is fucking awesome.”
Then he starts singing at half-tempo. We’ve all learned to follow the singer. So, with no rehearsal, we go half-time. And we do this weird fucking version of Search And Destroy. Now, every time I see Al he tells that story and says: “I’m so sorry.” But I say: “Dude, what you did is inspire me to record it like that.” There’s a heavy version of Search And Destroy on the Ministry album Moral Hygiene, and that’s where that came from. Al is one of the greatest guys I’ve ever worked with – even through drug-fuelled mistakes.
Billy Morrison’s Hollow is out now via TLG | ZOID.
