Synopsis

Billy Idol performs in a dramatically lit boxing ring, turning the setting into a stage for swaggering rock 'n' roll theater. Wearing leather and surrounded by Steve Stevens and three female backing singers, he struts, sings, and plays to the camera with exaggerated confidence. The choreography is loose and provocative, with Idol dropping to the canvas and grinding across the ring. Rather than telling a conventional story, the video presents Idol as a flamboyant, charismatic showman embracing the song's soulful romantic mood.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video marked a softer visual direction than some of Billy Idol's earlier, more aggressive promos. Contemporary coverage described it as comparatively soft-focus, while still emphasizing Idol's cocky performance style.

• The boxing-ring setting turns the song's romantic plea into a display of competition and bravado, matching Idol's habit of presenting vulnerability through an exaggerated tough-guy persona.

• Steve Stevens appears alongside Idol, while three female performers provide the backing-vocal presence seen throughout the performance.

• "To Be A Lover" was the lead single from the 1986 album Whiplash Smile. Idol's version reworked the William Bell and Booker T. Jones soul song "I Forgot to Be Your Lover" into an upbeat rock, pop, and R&B crossover.

• Idol encountered the song through George Faith's reggae interpretation and retained the shortened title "To Be A Lover" rather than returning to the original name.

• The single became one of Idol's biggest American hits, reaching No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100. Its video also received strong MTV exposure.