Billy Idol

William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), better known by his stage name Billy Idol, is an English rock ^{Rock music} musician. He first achieved fame in the punk rock era as a member of the band Generation X ^{Generation X (band)} . He then embarked on a successful solo career, aided by a series of stylish music videos, making him one of the first MTV stars. Idol continues to tour with guitarist Steve Stevens and has a worldwide fan ^{fan (person)} base.

 
Early life and career

Idol was born in Stanmore, Middle***, the son of a salesman.
The new release, Charmed Life ^{Charmed Life (album)} , was due for release and a video for the single, "Cradle of Love" had to be shot. The song had been featured in the Andrew Dice Clay film, The Adventures of Ford Fairlane. Since Idol was unable to walk, he was shot from the waist up. The video would feature video footage of him singing in large frames throughout an apartment while the very young and beautiful Betsy Lynn George was trying to seduce a modest and mild mannered business man. The video was a huge hit and was placed in heavy rotation on MTV. Idol and Betsy Lynn George recreated the opening of the video for the 1991 American Music Awards.

Idol had always been a huge Doors ^{The Doors} fan, and he was asked to take part in the new movie The Doors ^{The Doors (film)} , directed by Oliver Stone. Billy Idol, though recovering from a motorcycle accident, threw himself into the role of Jim Morrison's drinking buddy, Cat.

Against his doctor's orders, Idol decided to tour behind the Charmed Life album. Idol could be seen walking with a cane onstage. He also had a special gauntlet made for his hand. This tour would be the first without Stevens. Mark Younger-Smith had become Idol's new guitarist.

Idol's stage show was quite elaborate. A massive fist was designed to hang over the crowd. The words "Rude Dude" were written across the fingers. During the show the fist would rotate and flip off the audience. The hand can be seen in the video for "Prodigal Blues".


Crisis and resurgence

In 1993, Idol released Cyberpunk ^{Cyberpunk (album)} , which was largely ignored. Music had changed and many of the bands that were popular in the '80s were being pushed aside. Many considered the album to be ahead of its time. Regarded as experimental, it was recorded in a home studio using a Macintosh computer, which was a fairly new concept at the time. Idol recorded the album with Younger-Smith and producer Robin Hancock. Special editions of the album were issued with a floppy disc which contained a screensaver. The album has somewhat become a cult favourite today.

In 1994, Idol suffered two drug overdoses but recovered from each. Since then, he started to rehab and successfully overcame his addiction in the following years.

In 1996, Idol appeared in a live version of The Who's Quadrophenia.

He returned to the public eye in 1998, when he played himself in The Wedding Singer, in which "White Wedding" was also the title track. The movie was a smash hit worldwide. Idol also released three new tracks on Internet - a move which created much concern from RIAA.
He also shared the stage with popular band Third Eye Blind.

VH1 aired, Billy Idol - Behind the Music on April 16, 2001. The Behind the Music series was very popular at the time, and each band or artist that was featured on that program usually gained a resurgence of interest after the show had aired. Idol and Stevens were no exceptions, taking part in a VH1 Storytellers show three days later. The reunited duo set out to play a series of acoustic/storytellers shows before recording the VH1 special. The acoustic tour was a big success, and Idol eventually started adding new material into the show.

Another Greatest Hits CD was issued in 2001, with Keith Forsey's "Don't You (Forget About Me)" appearing on the compilation. Forsey had originally written it with Idol in mind, but the singer turned it down and eventually the song was given to Simple Minds, who made it a worldwide hit in 1985. The album also includes a live acoustic version of "Rebel Yell" taken from a performance at Los Angeles station KROQ's 1993 Acoustic Christmas concert. The compilation sold about 4 millions of copies worldwide.

Idol was also referenced in Buffy the Vampire Slayer ^{Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV series)} , in which the character Spike ^{Spike (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)} claims Idol's look is based on himself.

In 2000, Idol was invited to be a guest vocalist on Tony Iommi's album ^{Iommi (album)} . His contribution was on the song "Into The Night," which he also co-wrote ^songwriter . That year his voice also starred as Odin, a mysterious alien character, in the animated fantasy film Heavy Metal 2000. In Sydney, Idol was somewhat embarrassed in front of 80,000+ people at the 2002 National Rugby League Grand final. Entering the playing field on a hovercraft-type stage to the intro of White Wedding, he managed to sing only two words before a power failure ended the performance.

"White Wedding" appeared on popular video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, playing on fictional Classic rock radio station, K-DST.


Devil's Playground and beyond

Devil's Playground ^{Devil's Playground (album)} , which came out in March 2005, was Idol's first new studio album in nearly 12 years. It reached #46 on the Billboard 200. This album was promoted with use of the album website in early 2005. The album included a cover of "Plastic Jesus".

Idol played a handful of dates on the 2005 Vans Warped Tour and also appeared at the UK's Download Festival at Donington Park and the Voodoo Music Experience ^{Voodoo Experience} in New Orleans ^{New Orleans, Louisiana} . In 2006, as his only UK live date, he appeared headlining the Sunday night of GuilFest. That same year he made an appearance on Viva La Bam where he helped Bam Margera succeed in "creating" a sunroof for his $250,000 Lamborghini Gallardo and performed live for April Margera for her birthday.

In 2006, Idol guested on his keyboardist Derek Sherinian's solo album Blood of the Snake, covering the 1970 Mungo Jerry hit "In the Summertime ^{In the Summertime (Mungo Jerry song)} ". A video was made featuring Idol and guitarist Slash ^{Slash (musician)} . In November 2006, Idol released a Christmas album called Happy Holidays ^{Happy Holidays (album)} . It included Christmas songs such as "Frosty the Snowman", "Jingle Bell Rock", and "Silent Night ^{Silent Night (song)} ", plus some originals.

In 2008, "Rebel Yell" appeared as a playable track on the video game Guitar Hero World Tour and "White Wedding" on Rock Band 2, the Rock Band 2 platform later gaining "Mony Mony" and "Rebel Yell" as downloadable tracks. On June 24, 2008 Idol released a new greatest hits album, The Very Best of Billy Idol: Idolize Yourself. The compilation featured two previously unreleased tracks, "John Wayne" and "New Future Weapon". A third track, "Fractured", was available for download on iTunes. He embarked on a successful tour across the world, co-headlining with Def Leppard.

In July 2009, Idol performed at the Congress Theater, Chicago for the U.S. TV series Soundstage ^{Soundstage (TV program)} . This performance was recorded and was released on DVD as In Super Overdrive Live, on November 17, 2009.

On February 16, 2010, Idol was announced as one of the acts to play the Download Festival in Donington Park. He was quoted: "With all of these great heavyweight and cool bands playing Download this year, I'm going to have to come armed with my punk rock’n’roll attitude, Steve Stevens, and all of my classic songs plus a couple of way out covers. Should be fun!"

In March 2010, Idol added Camp Freddy guitarist Billy Morrison and drummer Jeremy Colson to his touring line-up.Billy Idol's current live band consists of:
*Steve Stevens - guitar
*Billy Morrison - guitar (2010-present)
*Stephen McGrath - bass
*Derek Sherinian - keyboards
*Jeremy Colson - drums (2010-present)
Albums


* ⁺ Greatest Hits and Devil's Playground failed to chart in The Official UK Top 75 Albums Chart (published by Music Week), but did chart on the complete Top 200 UK Chart published by Charts+Plus ^ChartsPlus (published mainly for music business statistics).



Singles

Starting with the 1983 re-release of "White Wedding", Chrysalis ^{Chrysalis Records} issued Idol's singles with an 'IDOL' vanity catalogue numbering system. This lasted for roughly seven years and sixteen singles (including various re-issues) until the release of "Prodigal Blues" in 1990.



* ⁺ "Dancing with Myself", "Mony Mony" and "Shock to the System" failed to chart on Billboard Hot 100 but all three charted on the U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles Chart which equals positions 101-125. Therefore these songs appear listed as having charted on a position below 100 on Billboard Hot 100. Chart positions for these three singles are listed as 102, 107 and 105 in the track information in the CD-booklet for Billy Idol's 2008 released compilation album The Very Best of Billy Idol: Idolize Yourself.
* ^{^} UK release in 1985.
* ^{^} UK release in 1985.
* ^~ UK release in 1988.



Billy Idol Awards


List of Billy Idol awards and nominations


Grammys
The MTV Video Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony established in 1984 by MTV.The BRIT Awards are the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards.