Photo credit: Jane Stuart @JaneStuartPhotos
In this revealing Q&A, BILLY MORRISON talks about each song on his latest album, HOLLOW. It follows the success of 2024’s THE MORRISON PROJECT format with 12 songs, half sung by MORRISON and half sung by a handful of his friends. Guests include Sully Erna, Nuno Bettencourt, Dexter Holland, Marilyn Manson, Chuck D, B Real, Duff McKagan, Steve Stevens, and DMC. The album’s lead single “Becoming” became MORRISON’s third Top 20 rock track overall. “Billy is a true rock warrior who has made a kick ass album that encompasses all the best elements of real no nonsense rock and roll,” noted Eddie Trunk (“Trunk Nation,” Sirius XM).
1. HOLLOW
(Morrison) Produced by Billy Morrison
Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Programming – Billy Morrison. Drums – Erik Eldenius. Lead Guitar – Billy Morrison
MORRISON: The title track to my new album was inspired by the life that I led when I was homeless in the UK and addicted to heroin. Begging for money on the streets and being the guy that people crossed the street from, I would watch people’s faces as they walked towards me, gradually realizing they had to walk past me and being disgusted at how dirty I was, or that I was begging for change. That leaves an indelible mark on your soul and the song is about slowly crawling out of that hollow life.
2. BECOMING (Featuring Sully Erna and Nuno Bettencourt)
(Morrison, Erna, Scallions) Produced by Billy Morrison
Vocals – Sully Erna. Guitars, Bass, Programming – Billy Morrison Extra Guitar – Brett Scallions. Drums – Erik Eldenius
Lead Guitar – Nuno Bettencourt
MORRISON: When the music to “Becoming” was finally finished, in my mind there was only one person I could imagine singing it, and that was Sully Erna. His work with Godsmack over the decades has just proven his voice to be one of the most powerful in rock music. We got to record it in Los Angeles together while he was here. It was a killer vibe, and when we were all at the Above Ground show late last year here in LA, it seemed only fitting for me to ask Nuno to play lead (keeping it Boston on this track!). And again, he graciously agreed, and absolutely killed it. This song is about transforming out of the darkness and negativity of certain lifestyle choices and becoming a strong, positive and powerful force. For an in-depth description, you would have to ask Sully about the lyrics that he wrote.
3. FORGIVE ME
(Morrison) Produced by Billy Morrison
Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Programming – Billy Morrison. Drums – Erik Eldenius Lead Guitar – Billy Morrison
MORRISON: Social media is an inexorable beast, slowly wrapping its arms around us all as a society and gently squeezing harder and harder until…the algorithm wins in the end! It’s a commentary…an observation…not a judgement because we are all guilty and all involved at some level. I guess I imagined us all as a race, a few decades from now, kneeling in front of the almighty AI Demigods, pleading for forgiveness. I have a wild imagination sometimes…or is it really so wild?
4. THE TAILOR (Featuring Marilyn Manson)
(Morrison, Manson, Fenton) Produced by Billy Morrison
Vocals – Marilyn Manson. Guitars, Bass by Billy Morrison Keyboards / Programming – Ade Fenton. Drums by Fred Coury
MORRISON: This track talks about covering up our pain, our internal wounds, with a shiny exterior and learning to cover it all up so that no one can see it. You would have to talk to Manson about the details of what was in his mind as he wrote the lyrics, but to me, it’s a clear observation and fantastic visual imagery of a tailor making clothes out of pain and suffering so that the wearer looks fine, while cleverly disguising his trauma.
5. TAKE ME AS I AM
(Morrison) Produced by Billy Morrison
Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Programming – Billy Morrison. Drums – Erik Eldenius Lead Guitar – Billy Morrison
MORRISON: Life is a hell of a journey and we are all fallible beings, but we all have the capacity for change. “Take Me As I Am” examines both the concept of change and growth as a human being, and the idea of arriving at a place of acceptance for one another. I believe that as long as we are aware of our faults, and we strive to be a better person tomorrow, then acceptance is one of the most healing attributes we can offer the world. And not understanding the power of judgement can be extremely damaging to others. Having been judged for one thing or another my whole life, finding those people that literally “take me as I am,” that accept me for who I am, and allow mistakes to be part of a learning process, is a wonderful feeling.
6. NO SUSPECTS (Featuring Chuck D, B Real and Darryl DMC McDaniels)
(Morrison, Freese, Chuck D, McDaniels) Produced by Billy Morrison
Vocals – Chuck D, B-Real, Darryl DMC McDaniels, Billy Morrison
Guitars, Bass, Programming – Billy Morrison. Decks – DJ Lord. Drums – Erik Eldenius Lead Guitar – Billy Morrison
MORRISON: Honestly, you would have to talk to Chuck, B and D to get a clear picture of this track. When you have four lyricists on a track (I wrote the title and the chorus), it would be wrong for me to speak on their lyrics. But the title and the chorus refer to us standing up for our rights, and for not allowing people to label us as suspects with no proof, or to point the finger of suspicion for no reason. Look around, watch the news, and open your eyes. We are all being made “suspects” without knowing or realizing it.
7. ANOTHER DAY (Featuring Steve Stevens)
(Morrison) Produced by Billy Morrison
Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Programming – Billy Morrison. Drums by Fred Coury Lead Guitar – Steve Stevens
MORRISON: I was trying to describe how it feels to have multiple projects, multiple people and multiple situations all demanding your time and attention at once. What I imagine it must feel like having ADHD. I’m describing the constant information flow that we all have, with 24-hour television, social media, commercials, work, friendships and more trying to gain our attention (and our wallets a lot of the time). I have someone extremely close to me that has clinical ADHD and it inspires me to understand more, to listen more, to take a breath more, and maybe even to switch off more. Leave all of that craziness for another day.
8. LEAVE NO TRACE (Featuring Duff McKagan)
(Morrison, McKagan)
Produced by Billy Morrison. Vocal Production by Martin Feveyear Vocals – Duff McKagan. Guitars, Bass – Billy Morrison
Extra Guitars – Duff McKagan. Pedal Steel – Luke Cyrus Goetze. Drums – Fred Coury Lead Guitar – Billy Morrison
MORRISON: Duff sat on my couch in my studio, with pen and paper (well, a phone because it’s 2026) and we literally talked through his lyrical ideas. He already had the title and subject matter and we sat there, old school-style, and hashed it out. For me, when I read these lyrics, it talks about leaving the mistakes of your past behind and looking forward to the love and honesty of a real relationship. Of a real connection. The ability to leave the past in the past is a real skill and maybe not dwelling on past mistakes and trying to erase them from the present psyche and situation is a good thing. I see this song as a flag-waving anthem of keeping it all in the present and not dwelling on the past or worrying about the future.
9. DEVIL IN YOUR EYES (Featuring Chad Gray)
(Morrison)
Produced by Billy Morrison
Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Programming – Billy Morrison. Guest vocal – Chad Gray. Drums – Erik Eldenius. Lead Guitar – Billy Morrison
MORRISON: I wrote this song after watching the news. Clearly that was a huge mistake but it made for some fantastic lyrics. I see a lot of political posturing and questionable decisions going on and we are often just clearly being lied to…and this song is about that kind of climate. It’s about the kind of person that says they have our best interests at heart, but really it’s all about their own agendas and their own power-hungry dreams and desires. Clearly having Chad Gray agree to join me on the vocals for this track provided us with a whole other layer of heaviness and weight to these lyrics. A perfect guest singer for this kind of lyrical content.
10. TEARING DOWN THE WALLS
(Morrison, Fenton) Produced by Billy Morrison
Vocals, Guitars, Bass – Billy Morrison. Keyboards / Programming – Ade Fenton. Drums – Fred Coury
MORRISON: This was pure Philip K. Dick sci-fi indulgence! I’m a huge Gary Numan fan (hence working with his producer Ade Fenton on this track, and all the wonderful Prophet 5 type synths…thanks Ade!) so it seemed appropriate to delve into a fantasy world of dystopian Bladerunner-type visuals and robots breeding paranoia and mistrust on every street corner. Complete fiction but fun to bring to life in a song.
11. NEVER GONNA CHANGE (Featuring Dexter Holland)
(Morrison, Bunton)
Produced by Billy Morrison. Vocal Production by Adam Greenholtz Vocals – Dexter Holland. Guitars, Bass – Billy Morrison
Backing Vocals – Billy Morrison. Drums – Fred Coury Lead Guitar – Billy Morrison
MORRISON: “Never Gonna Change” paints a picture of a dysfunctional home life and the feeling of eternal youth—live for the moment, party hard, regret nothing…the battle cry of every generation. “‘Never Gonna Change’ is one of those perfect pop punk slices of rebellion that hopefully spans a couple of generational gaps. Teenagers will always feel the same—misunderstood—and Dexter has been one of the most vital voices of teenage angst and rebellion since The Offspring hit the world running in 1984. So when I finished writing this track with Los Angeles-based songwriter, Jacob Bunton, it was clear we wanted Dexter to be the voice of the track. Thanks to the miracle of modern technology, he was able to record his tracks in the middle of an Offspring tour, and Barry Pointer mixed it all into the killer track we have here.
12. BUTTERFLY EFFECT
(Morrison)
Produced by Billy Morrison
Vocals, Guitars, Bass – Billy Morrison. Piano – Darren Leader
Orchestral Arrangement – Fred Coury. Drums – Fred Coury
Lead Guitar – Billy Morrison
MORRISON: Absolutely the most difficult song to write and perform, and yet probably the track I am most proud of on the entire album. I believe that an act of kindness can ripple outwards and affect people and situations we are not even aware of—and conversely, behavior that is unacceptable will affect the world negatively. So maybe because I want to try and be a better person than I was yesterday, I can try and affect the world in a more positive way by making better choices and that will ripple outwards and add to the good in our world. I don’t think I need to be defined by the terrible choices and decisions I have made in the past. This song pushed me lyrically and also within the performance itself.
ABOUT BILLY MORRISON:
Billy Morrison is a British guitarist, singer, and songwriter, widely known as Billy Idol’s rhythm guitar player for the past 17 years alongside lead guitarist Steve Stevens. He is also a solo recording artist in his right having released three albums including the successful and acclaimed The Morrison Project in 2024 via TLG | ZOID distributed by Virgin Music Group. His fourth solo album, Hollow, arrived in August 2026, also on TLG | ZOID distributed by Virgin Music Group. Morrison is also a former member of The Cult and Circus Diablo and currently also performs with the superstar cover band known as The Royal Machines. “Who the F%@K is Billy Morrison?” is the title of a new short film that answers that question. Directed and edited by Mike Savage, it tells his story through punchy editing, candid footage, and new interviews with Duff McKagan of Guns N’ Roses, Al Jourgensen of Ministry, B-Real of Cypress Hill, Nuno Bettencourt of Extreme, mixer/engineer/producer Barry Pointer, and Morrison himself. Watch the six-minute documentary HERE. In addition, Morrison is a contemporary fine artist whose Warhol-inspired work has been shown at top galleries. He also has a regular show, “Influenced,” on SiriusXM’s Ozzy’s Boneyard (ch. 38), where he delves deep into the dynamic relationship between art and music.
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