Song · Billy Idol
“Cradle of Love” by Billy Idol
From the album Charmed Life (1990)
“Cradle of Love” by Billy Idol appears on 17 radio countdowns from 14 stations between 1990 and 2025. It was first released in 1990 on the album Charmed Life. Its best result is #19 on the KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1990. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #29 alternative song of 1990 and #5,058 alternative song of all time.
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"Cradle of Love" kicked off Charmed Life, Billy Idol's fourth album, in 1990, and it didn't start out as his song at all: David Werner wrote it alone and demoed it in 1989 with Mark Doyle, Tom Bellin and Rob Deaner before shopping it around to labels. By the time it reached Idol it carried both their names, and Keith Forsey produced it, played drums on it and arranged it with him.
It's a hot rod of a record, new wave and hard rock with a doo-wop tune under the hood, vintage rock 'n' roll in its bones and a Ramones-style sneer, Mark Younger-Smith's guitar snapping while Idol leers through a title that riffs on robbing the cradle. It went to number two on the Hot 100, his last top-10 hit in America, and gave him his only number one on Album Rock Tracks.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
Classic Rock
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 19 | KROQ Los Angeles, CA | KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1990 | 107 |
| 1990 | 26 | 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana | 91X Top 91 Songs of 1990 | 91 |
| 1990 | 30 | Live 105 San Francisco, CA | Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 1990 | 105 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 815 | 107.7 The End | The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 1077 |
| 2002 | 1895 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) | 2002 |
| 2003 | 1446 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) | 2044 |
| 2019 | 227 | 106.7 WLLZ | WLLZ 500 (2019) | 500 |
| 2019 | 474 | Big 100 | BIG 500 Memorial Day Countdown (2019) | 500 |
| 2020 | 491 | 106.7 WLLZ | WLLZ 500 (2020) | 500 |
| 2022 | 520 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 900 Songs of the '90s | 900 |
| 2022 | 557 | Q104.3 | Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2022) | 1043 |
| 2022 | 480 | 94.1 KRNA | KRNA Memorial Day 500 (2022) | 500 |
| 2022 | 430 | 100.7 KSLX | KSLX Arizona 500 (2022) | 500 |
| 2022 | 700 | 102.5 KZOK | KZOK Classic Rock Top 1025 (2022) | 1025 |
| 2023 | 480 | 101.5 WPDH | WPDH Top 1015 (2023) | 1015 |
| 2023 | 1008 | Q104.3 | Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2023) | 1043 |
| 2025 | 253 | 99.1 PLR | 99.1 PLR Top 400 of the Last 40 Years (2025) | 400 |
Also listed as: Cradle Of Love.
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