Photo: GenerationSex / CC BY-SA 4.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
What I admire most about Billy Idol is his instinct for translation. Plenty of punks from the late-seventies London scene burned bright and vanished, but Idol understood that the sneer, the leather, and the peroxide spikes could survive the jump to MTV-era America without becoming a costume. His best songs balance genuine aggression with shameless pop hooks, and that balance is far harder to strike than it looks. Decades on, he still performs with the conviction of a man who never got the memo that rebellion has a retirement age. I find that strangely heartening.
Overview
William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is an English rock singer. He achieved fame in the 1970s on the London punk rock scene as the lead singer of Generation X. He later embarked on a solo career which led to international recognition and made him a lead artist during the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" in America.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Billy Idol
- Name (Japanese)
- ビリー・アイドル
- Reading
- びりー・あいどる
- Born
- November 30, 1955 (age 70)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Sagittarius / Goat
- Origin
- Stanmore, United Kingdom
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- 2 cm
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- singer / songwriter / guitarist
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Worthing High School
- University
- University of Brighton
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Singer — see all → · Songwriter — see all → · More people from United Kingdom →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-11
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.