Sex and drugs – Billy Idol left all that behind long ago, but not rock'n'roll. Hits like "Rebel Yell" and "Eyes Without A Face" are now cult classics. And they also inspire his granddaughter, he tells us. London (dpa) – In the 1980s he was the wild poster boy of mainstream punk. With straw-blond spikes and a curled top lip, Billy Idol was one of the best-known faces of the MTV era and delivered global hits such as "White Wedding", "Rebel Yell" and "Sweet Sixteen". "I was alive in the 80s. It was so much fun," he told dpa in an interview in London. He has long left the wild times behind, but the rock’n’roll remains. Even as a grandfather, the British musician keeps putting out new music and regularly takes the stage. On his milestone birthday he will play in Mexico City. Age does not matter to his career, he said. If the Rolling Stones are still on stage at 80, he can do it at 70. "I think it's partly that we are doing what we love. So there's no impediment to not wanting to do it," he told dpa in a 2024 interview. "A day may come when the audience isn't there," he said. "But at the moment, we're going strong." That was not always the case. From London to New York City The path of William Michael Albert Broad — the name in his passport — began on November 30, 1955. He was born in Stanmore, a district in the north-west of the British capital. He later chose the name Idol because a teacher called him "idle", which he noted that can mean vain as well as lazy. After trying his hand as a guitarist in the punk band Chelsea, he founded Generation X and became its frontman. The initially aggressive punk soon gave way to a radio-friendly style. The Generation X song "Dancing With Myself" gave a foretaste of Idol’s future sound and was re-released as his first solo single. In the early 1980s he moved to New York. "It was to meet someone like Steve Stevens," he said. In the American virtuoso guitarist he found a kindred spirit. "Once I met Steve, I just knew and I saw what he could do. I went: 'This is the guy. I can do anything I want with this guy.'" Together with Stevens and British producer Keith Forsey he developed the typical Idol sound. The blend of muscular rock and new wave with strong pop melodies, punchy guitar riffs and danceable rhythm can be heard to perfection on the second album "Rebel Yell" from 1984. It made Billy Idol a global star. His success in the United States was closely tied to MTV. The channel went on air in 1981 almost at the same time as Idol’s arrival in New York City. His sexually charged videos, in which he poses half naked, clenches his fist and curls his upper lip, ran in heavy rotation. At the height of his success he fully lived the excesses of the 1980s. "There was this free love and tons of sex and drugs and all going on at the same time," Idol recalled. "And it was all fuelling the music and the fashions and everything. It was a hell of a lot of fun." After a decade of rock'n'roll lifestyle came the crash. Motorcycle crash and drug collapse In a motorcycle accident in 1990 he almost lost his leg. His experimental studio album "Cyberpunk" flopped in 1993. After splitting from his longtime girlfriend Perri Lister, his drug use spun out of control. In his autobiography he writes it was clear that he had to stop taking heroin, but admits he foolishly started using cocaine to help with the withdrawal symptoms. In 1994 he collapsed outside a nightclub in Los Angeles. He then began rehab and turned his life around. The thought of his children got him off drugs, said Idol, who is now in a relationship with actress China Chow. Willem Wolf, his son with Lister, is 37. His 36-year-old daughter Bonnie Blue — from a brief affair with American Linda Mathis — made Billy Idol a rock grandad. His granddaughter, Poppy, is already a fan. "I remember Poppy first tapping her foot to 'Rebel Yell'," the proud grandad recounted. "The child doesn't get taught to tap its foot to music, it just does it. So I saw her tap her feet to some of my music for the first time, to 'Rebel Yell'. She was tapping her feet for the first time. So I've really enjoyed being a grandad." Musically, Billy Idol returned with his congenial partner Stevens in 2005 on the studio album "Devil’s Playground", 12 years after "Cyberpunk". More albums and EPs followed, most recently "Dream Into It", on which he looks back on his life with nostalgia and self-criticism. In the supergroup Generation Sex — with musicians from Generation X and the Sex Pistols — he plays old punk classics. Today Billy Idol enjoys cult status and tours regularly. In summer he played several concerts in Europe where he appeared in top form. "I don't get bored of singing 'Rebel Yell' or 'Eyes Without a Face' or any of the songs," Billy Idol emphasized. "They've got an energy that doesn't fade." The following information is not intended for publication dpa pde xx a3 ara coh
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