Billy Idol
Billy Idol
William Michael Albert Broad, known professionally by his stage name Billy Idol, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor. He first achieved fame in the 1970s as a member of the punk rock band Generation X. Subsequently, he embarked on a solo career which led to an international recognition and made Idol one of the lead artists during the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" in the United States...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionPunk Singer
Date of Birth30 November 1955
CityStanmore, England
Such a human waste, your eyes without a face.
Part of the punk attitude was that you should project your music through your whole body... show your personality as much as possible.
The biggest misconception people have about me is that I'm stupid.
My hair used to be real long, and my parents were encouraged when I cut it. They thought I was going 'straight,' but I was just getting weirder - at least in their eyes. I was getting into the punk thing.
There was a time when my whole life was in chaos, really, and I didn't help myself sort it out. But one day I came to my senses, and I think I was lucky because a lot of people don't.
When I started out, everyone seemed to be adopting these names... Johnny Rotten, Sid Vicious. I wasn't really Rotten or Vicious or Nasty, so I wanted something a bit more funny - yet something that seemed real rock 'n' roll... something that acknowledged my ambition.
I rocked the cradle of love.
Let's sink another drink, cause it will give me time to think.
When the other man has none, you don't need a gun.
Your empty eyes seem to pass me by and leave me dancing with myself.
If I only had the chance, I'd ask one to dance, and I'd be dancing with myself.
I'm really a singer, so I love songs and I love singing. I like rap music, but I didn't grow up freestyling.
My dad was one of the reasons I got into rock and roll, because I was learning the ropes of his business, which was selling powertools, and I was looking for a way out from under his heel. I was like, 'Where's the fun? Where's the glamour?
I'm not trying to hide from my past. I want to roll in it. Like a dog, rolling in feces, I'm rolling in the feces of my greatest hits - that's a bit of a wild way of looking at it, but I am a man, and we do like rolling in our own feces at times.