History Of Billy Idol
Billy Idol became a cultural icon in 1980s with his peroxide blonde hair, sneering countenance and a voice capable of singing rock and roll songs and romantic ballads. Billy Idol was born William Broad in Long Island, New York and he lived the first four years of his life in the US. His parents, Bill and Joan Broad, moved back to England two years after Billy’s younger sister, Jane, was born. |
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William’s father was a salesman and he worked along with his father as he was growing up. However, he did not get the necessary grade to make it to university which upset his parents quite a bit. Eventually William was placed in a relaxed school which allowed his to re-take his exams and he ended up getting a place in Sussex University where William started studying English and Philosophy.
Punk rock appeared in England in the mid-1970s and William got completely involved in the punk rock scene. He was part of the Sex Pistol fan club named Bromley Contingent and the club followed where ever the band performed.
In 1975, William met Tony James and they started a band called The Rockettes. William dropped out of school to focus on music and in summer of 1976, William joined Gene October, John Towe, Tony James to form a band called Chelsea. This was the time William changed his name to Billy Idol after a comment written by a teacher on his report card which read “William is idle”. William changed the spelling of idle to Idol as Eric Idle of Monty Python was extremely popular. For William, changing his name was the most logical thing to do since his idols like David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Sid Vicious and Johnny Rotten had all changed their names.
In 1976, Billy Idol and Tony James formed a band along with John Towe called Generation X. The band was named after the namesake book of 1965 which contained a series of interviews with teens in the Mod subculture. The band became highly successful.
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Bryan Adams was born on November 5, 1959 in Kingston, Ontario to English parents. Adams also has Maltese ancestry as his grandmother and great-grandmother were from Malta. Adams father was a diplomat and he has travelled the world over with his parents before they decided to settle down in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, in 1973. 