Did you know that Billy Idol attended Sussex University until 1976? He left to join a group of fans of the band Sex Pistols, who called themselves the Bromley Contingent.

Idol was lead singer for the group Generation X in the late 70s, which enjoyed moderate success in England.

His first album, which was self-titled (1982), was on the charts for 2 years thanks to hits like "White Wedding".

In 2002, Idol released an album full of the music he did on a show for VH-1 called 'Storytellers'.

What do you know about Billy Idol?

He was born William Broad in Middlesex, England on November 30, 1955.

Though born in England, he lived with his family in Long Island, NY from age 3 to about age 7 when they moved back.

In the early days of punk he was known to hang around Malcolm McLaren's infamous store, Sex.

Idol became a dad in 1988 with the birth of son Willem.

Idol was going to play the role of Tom Baker in Oliver Stone's The Doors, but shortly before filming he was in a serious motorcycle accident on February 6, 1990. He still appeared in a small role as Cat.

After a stint playing guitar in a group called Chelsea didn't pan out (interestingly, the group featured future Clash guitarist Mick Jones and future Damned guitarist Brian James), Idol put down the guitar and picked up the mic, and recruited bassist Tony James, drummer John Towe, and guitarist Bob Andrews, forming Generation X in 1976.

In the summer of 1989 as part of an all-star rendition of the Who's Tommy, Idol played the role of the sadistic character Cousin Kevin.

"Eyes Without A Face"-The title of this Billy Idol classic comes from the translation of the title of an old French film.

Sincerely,

John "outofplacechild" Kilduff

US charts:

#23 Hot in the city 1982
#36 White wedding 1983
#46 Rebel yell 1984
#4 Eyes without a face 1984
#29 Flesh for fantasy 1984
#50 Catch my fall 1984
#6 To be a lover 1986
#37 Don't need a gun 1987
#20 Sweet sixteen 1987
#1 Mony mony "live" 1987
#48 Hot in the city 1988
#2 Cradle of love 1990
#52 LA woman 1990

bubbling under the US charts:

#107 Mony mony (studio version) 1981
#108 White wedding 1982
#102 Dancing with myself 1983
#105 Shock to the system 1993

UK charts:

GENERATION X:
#36 Your generation 1977
#47 Ready steady go 1978
#11 King rocker 1979
#23 Valley of the dolls 1979
#62 Friday's angel 1979
#62 Dancing with myself 1980
#60 Dancing with myself (EP) 1981

BILLY IDOL:
#58 Hot in the city 1982
#62 Rebel yell 1984
#18 Eyes without a face 1984
#54 Flesh for fantasy 1984
#6 White wedding 1985
#6 Rebel yell (re-issue) 1985
#22 To be a lover 1986
#26 Don't need a gun 1987
#17 Sweet sixteen 1987
#7 Mony mony 1987
#13 Hot in the city (re-mix) 1988
#63 Catch my fall 1988
#34 Cradle of love 1990
#70 LA woman 1990
#47 Prodigal blues 1990
#30 Shock to the system 1993
#47 Speed 1994

album rock charts:

#31 Hot in the city 1982
#4 White wedding 1983
#9 Rebel yell 1984
#5 Eyes without a face 1984
#8 Flesh for fantasy 1984
#24 Catch my fall 1984
#2 To be a lover 1986
#10 Don't need a gun 1987
#26 Sweet sixteen 1987
#27 Mony mony "live" 1987
#1 Cradle of love 1990
#18 LA woman 1990
#35 Prodigal blues 1991
#7 Shock to the system 1993
#38 Speed 1994


modern rock charts:

#7 Cradle of love 1990
#23 Shock to the system 1990

I don't know if it's true, but I heard he signed his name as William Alucard (Dracula backwards) in hotels.