Billy Idol

The act's singer/frontman Gene October styled Idol's image, advising him to change his short sighted eye-glasses for contact lenses and dye his hair blonde with a crew cut for a Retro-1950s rocker look.

After a few weeks performing with Chelsea, Idol and Tony James, the band's bass guitarist, quit the act and co-founded Generation X, with Idol switching from guitarist to the role of singer/frontman.

Generation X was one of the first punk bands to appear on the BBC Television music programme Top of the Pops.

William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is an English-American singer, songwriter, musician and actor.

Idol was born William Michael Albert Broad on 30 November 1955 in Stanmore, Middlesex, England.

His parents were devout Anglicans and attended church regularly.

Idol is half Irish; his mother was born in Cork and is an O'Sullivan.

In 1958, when he was two years old, he moved with his parents to the US and settled in Patchogue, New York.

They also lived in Rockville Centre, New York.

His younger sister, Jane, was born during this time.

The family returned to England four years later and settled in Dorking, Surrey.

Although a punk rock band, they were inspired by mid-1960s British pop, in sharp contrast to their more militant peers, with Idol stating, "We were saying the opposite to the Clash and the Pistols. They were singing 'No Elvis, Beatles or The Rolling Stones', but we were honest about what we liked. The truth was we were all building our music on the Beatles and the Stones."

He first achieved fame in the 1970s emerging from the London punk rock scene as the lead singer of the group Generation X.

Subsequently, he embarked on a solo career which led to international recognition and made Idol a lead artist during the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" in the US.

The name "Billy Idol" was inspired by a schoolteacher's description of him as "idle".

In 1971, the family moved to Bromley in southeastern Greater London, where Idol attended Ravensbourne School for Boys.

His family later moved to the Worthing suburb of Goring-by-Sea in West Sussex, where he attended Worthing High School for Boys.

In October 1975, he began attending the University of Sussex to pursue an English degree but left after year one in 1976.

He then joined the Bromley Contingent of Sex Pistols fans, a loosely organised gang that travelled to see the band wherever they played.

The name "Billy Idol" was coined due to a chemistry teacher's description of Idol on his school report card as "idle".

Idol has stated that the subject was one that he hated and in which he underachieved.

Idol began his music career in late 1976 as a guitarist in the punk rock band Chelsea.

However, he soon left the group.

With his former bandmate Tony James, Idol formed Generation X. With Idol as lead singer, the band achieved success in the United Kingdom and released three studio albums on Chrysalis Records, then disbanded.

In late 1976, he joined the newly-formed West London 1960s Retro-rock band Chelsea as a guitarist.

In 1977, Idol sang "Your Generation" on the TV series Marc.

Generation X signed a recording contract with Chrysalis Records, released three studio albums, performed in the 1980 film D.O.A.: A Rite of Passage, and then disbanded.

In 1981, Idol moved to New York City to pursue his solo career in collaboration with guitarist Steve Stevens.

Idol moved to New York City in 1981 and became a solo artist, working with former Kiss manager Bill Aucoin.

His debut studio album, Billy Idol (1982), was a commercial success.

With music videos for singles "Dancing with Myself" and "White Wedding" Idol soon became a staple of then newly-established MTV.

Idol's second studio album, Rebel Yell (1983), was a major commercial success, featuring hit singles "Rebel Yell" and "Eyes Without a Face".

The album was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipment of two million copies in the US.

In an interview on 21 November 1983, Idol said the name "Billy Idol" "was a bit of a goof, but part of the old English school of rock. It was a 'double thing', not just a poke at the superstar-like people... It was fun, you know?"

In 1986, he released Whiplash Smile.

Having accumulated three UK top 10 singles ("Rebel Yell", "White Wedding" and "Mony Mony") Idol released a 1988 greatest hits album titled Idol Songs: 11 of the Best; the album went platinum in the United Kingdom.

Idol then released Charmed Life (1990) and the concept album Cyberpunk (1993).

Idol spent the second half of the 1990s focusing on his personal life out of the public eye.

He made a musical comeback with the release of Devil's Playground (2005) and again with Kings & Queens of the Underground (2014).

In another interview for BBC Breakfast in October 2014, he said that he wanted to use the name "Billy Idle", but thought the name would be unavailable due to its similarity to the name of Monty Python star Eric Idle and chose Billy Idol instead.