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expanded the bio! yay!


[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bi_6829.gif]] William Michael Albert Broad, better known as '''Billy Idol,''' is a rock musician who, after splitting with his old band, Generation X, went solo and thus became one of the most iconic figures of the 1980s. He is most famous for the songs "White Wedding", "Rebel Yell" and "Dancing With Myself", which are radio staples to this day.

Idol has released a total of six studio albums, one EP, a Christmas album, and several compilation albums. He faded away in the early 1990s after the [[DorkAge disastrous release]] of ''Cyberpunk'', popping up again in a memorable cameo in ''TheWeddingSinger''. He continues to tour to this day with guitarist and longtime collaborator Steve Stevens.

Studio Discography:

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[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bi_6829.gif]] William Michael Albert Broad, better known as '''Billy Idol,''' is a rock musician who, after splitting most commonly associated with his old band, Generation X, went solo and thus became one of the most iconic figures of the 1980s.heyday in TheEighties, where he was a huge star on Creator/{{MTV}}. He is most famous for the songs "White Wedding", "Rebel Yell" and "Dancing With Myself", which are radio staples to this day.

William Michael Albert Broad grew up in England (with a few years living in New York as a kid), and went to Sussex University for an English degree. He dropped out after a year, and instead focused on punk rock. He joined the band Chelsea as a guitar player, but he and Tony James left the band to form Generation X. This band differed from some punk rock bands, being more openly influenced by 1960s rock and pop, setting a precedent for Billy's career. Signing with Creator/ChrysalisRecords, Billy transitioned from guitar to lead singer, an easy sell thanks to his good looks and charm. The band lasted for three albums, but after getting dropped from Chrysalis, they collapsed at the dawn of the 80s in a mess of drugs.

Billy took the opportunity to pursue a solo career, and teamed up with guitarist and new songwriting buddy (and {{Heterosexual Life Partner|s}}) Steve Stevens. As Billy likes to tell the story: he'd been given pictures of Rick Springfield(!) by his manager, and told that maybe he'd become a star if he cleaned himself up a bit. Billy was ''not'' enthused by this feedback, yet after being the founder of a relatively popular punk rock band, he wondered who or what he was now, as an individual. His question was answered one night in a New York club, when most people were sitting on sofas and chairs until the DJ put on Generation X's "Dancing With Myself," at which point the crowd came unglued and fllled the dance floor. Suddenly realizing he was the only one left at the bar because of ''his own song,'' he had a EurekaMoment, and realized he could just be himself. And the rest is history.

Back on Chrysalis Records once more,
Idol has remixed "Dancing With Myself" and released a total of six studio albums, one it under his own name, which became his breakthrough single. He put out an EP, ''Don't Stop,'' and quickly followed it with a Christmas SelfTitledAlbum, both of which saw big success. The self-titled contained what would be another iconic song, "White Wedding," and it went gold in the US. Follow-up album ''Rebel Yell'' went ''double platinum,'' and the title track from that album became yet another huge radio staple. As he correctly gambled on, Billy's trademark punk/pop style (not to mention his photogenic looks shining through his old school punk rock fashion sense) proved a smash success, and he spent the 80s an [=MTV=] darling.

Somewhere between the release of 1986's ''Whiplash Smile,'' and remix album ''Vital Idol'' (also big hits), Steve Stevens started to find further success outside of touring and recording with Billy, who had become increasingly reliant on drugs behind the scenes. They split up at the end of the 80s, and Billy attempted to bounce back with 1990's ''Charmed Life,'' preceded by radio favorite "Cradle Of Love." Around the release of the
album, Billy suffered another setback with a motorcycle accident, leading him to shoot a music video and several compilation albums. He faded away in do promotional appearances sitting down, and using a cane for some time. ''Charmed Life'' sold well enough, but Billy decided that with the early 1990s dawn of TheNineties, it was time for a change.

Billy spent much of his recuperation time reading up on the {{Cyberpunk}} genre, and fixated on it to the point that he decided to construct a NewSoundAlbum based around that. He bought a Macintosh computer, and got himself an email address to begin chatting online with fans. This was in 1992-1993, so all this was incredibly novel for the time. Billy, now sporting a mean set of dreadlocks, recorded the new album with [=ProTools=] and Studiovision, adopting a newfound interest in putting social commentary in his lyrics
after seeing the [[DorkAge disastrous release]] L.A. riots. He even had floppy disks made that included a screensaver to be packaged with his new album. Some of ''Cyberpunk'', popping up you may be wondering why you never hear much about Billy doing all these innovations in multimedia and promotion, and the answer is that, well, the resulting album was ''Cyberpunk.'' The album, which surprised audiences by being rife with electronic dance elements (including a now-infamous cover of Music/TheVelvetUnderground's "Heroin"), met critical scorn, and it stalled out on the charts. To say the least, it's his most controversial album.

After surviving a drug overdose, Billy cleaned himself up, but didn't release another album during the decade due to label disputes, though he and Steve Stevens reunited to put out the single "Speed" from the soundtrack to [[Film/{{Speed}} the movie of the same name]]. Billy got back the public eye once
again in with a memorable cameo in ''TheWeddingSinger''. He ''TheWeddingSinger'' ("You don't talk to Billy Idol that way!!!") Finally, in 2005, Billy made his comeback with ''Devil's Playground,'' which was an undeniable return to form, musically. A Christmas album soon followed (produced as an old vocal pop album) simply titled ''Happy Holidays.''

To coincide with his 2014 album ''Kings & Queens Of The Underground,'' Billy put out an autobiography, titled, of course, ''Dancing With Myself.'' Billy
continues to tour to this day day, still with guitarist and longtime collaborator Steve Stevens.

Studio !!!Studio Discography:



* ''Vital Idol'' (1987) (remix album)



* ''Happy Holidays'' (2006)



* SelfTitledAlbum: His debut in 1982.

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* SelfTitledAlbum: His debut full-length in 1982.



* StageNames: Real name William Broad. He apparently chose it because his teachers described him as idle...

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* StageNames: Real name William Michael Albert Broad. He apparently chose it because his teachers described him as idle..."idle."
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* DelinquentHair: His famous bleached-blond spikes.


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* LargeHam: It's ''Billy Idol!'' The sneer, the shameless mugging, that growling baritone vocal; the man is a born showman.

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* BadassGrandpa / CoolOldGuy: Fills arenas even at 58.

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* BadassGrandpa / CoolOldGuy: Fills arenas even at 58.as he reaches his 60s.


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* GameBreakingInjury: [[DefiedTrope Defied!]] A motorcycle accident left him off his feet for a long time, but he spent that time reading up on the {{Cyberpunk}} subgenre, buying an Apple computer, and working on new music based off that.

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[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bi_6829.gif]] William Michael Albert Broad, better known as Billy Idol, is a rock musician who, after splitting with his old band, Generation X, went solo and thus became one of the most iconic figures of the 1980s. He is most famous for the songs "White Wedding", "Rebel Yell" and "Dancing With Myself", which are radio staples to this day.

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[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bi_6829.gif]] William Michael Albert Broad, better known as Billy Idol, '''Billy Idol,''' is a rock musician who, after splitting with his old band, Generation X, went solo and thus became one of the most iconic figures of the 1980s. He is most famous for the songs "White Wedding", "Rebel Yell" and "Dancing With Myself", which are radio staples to this day.



* AwesomeMcCoolname: ''That's'' a classic rock star name.



* ConceptAlbum: The infamous ''Cyberpunk.''



* IntercourseWithYou: "Rebel Yell" and "Soul Standing By".

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* IntercourseWithYou: "Rebel Yell" and "Soul Standing By". And ''especially'' "Flesh For Fantasy."



* MetalScream: "WITH A REBEL YELL SHE CRIES MORE, MORE, MORE... OWWWW!!!"

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* MetalScream: "WITH A REBEL YELL YELL, SHE CRIES MORE, MORE, MORE... OWWWW!!!"



* OlderThanTheyLook: He's 58, but still looks 40-something.

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* OlderThanTheyLook: He's 58, in his sixties now, but still looks 40-something.40-something. Not bad for a guy in the business this long.
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* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Steve Stevens. Idol managed to drive him away with his drug-fueled antics for a while, but once he had sobered up, Stevens was back on board almost immediately.
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oops, wrong page


* OneOfUs: Grew up reading Marvel comics and watching Dr. Who. Was one of the first artists to openly embrace the internet and MP3 technology.
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* OneOfUs: Grew up reading Marvel comics and watching Dr. Who. Was one of the first artists to openly embrace the internet and MP3 technology.
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* ''VH1 Storytellers'' (2002) (live album)

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* ''VH1 ''Creator/{{VH1}} Storytellers'' (2002) (live album)

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Studio Discography:

* ''Don't Stop'' (1981) (EP)
* ''Billy Idol'' (1982)
* ''Rebel Yell'' (1983)
* ''Whiplash Smile'' (1986)
* ''Charmed Life'' (1990)
* ''Cyberpunk'' (1993)
* ''VH1 Storytellers'' (2002) (live album)
* ''Devil's Playground'' (2005)
* ''Kings & Queens Of The Underground'' (2014)



* BodyHorror: The video for "Shock To The System" features a guy getting beaten up and his camera smashed (in an obvious allegory for the LA riots) and then stop-motion ''merging'' with his camera to form a weird cyborg-looking thing. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lx2fZU5USus It's kinda messed up.]]



* HesBack: ''Devil's Playground,'' his comeback album in 2005, made damn sure you knew right out of the gate that he was playing rock and roll again (after all, his last album was 1993's poorly-received ''Cyberpunk'').



* ScaryMusicianHarmlessMusic

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* ScaryMusicianHarmlessMusicScaryMusicianHarmlessMusic: Billy looks like he should be in an underground punk band. Instead, he was a teen idol, top 40 mainstay on MTV during TheEighties.
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* IntercourseWithYou: "Rebel Yell".

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* IntercourseWithYou: "Rebel Yell".Yell" and "Soul Standing By".



* MetalScream "WITH A REBEL YELL SHE CRIES MORE, MORE, MORE... OWWWW!!!"

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* MetalScream MetalScream: "WITH A REBEL YELL SHE CRIES MORE, MORE, MORE... OWWWW!!!"

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* BreakupSong: "Eyes Without a Face", which also takes some cues from the eponymous film.



* GratuitousFrench: {{Subverted|Trope}} with the song "Eyes without a Face". the French words in their are a references to the film the song is based on.

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* GratuitousFrench: {{Subverted|Trope}} with the song In "Eyes without a Face". Face", before the TitleDrop the same phrase is said in French, possibly as a ShoutOut to [[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053459/referencethe eponymous French words in their are a references to the film the song is based on.movie.]]
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* SongOfSongTitles: The song "Kings & Queens of the Underground", in which he looks back on his career, has him name-dropping several of his most famous songs.
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* HiddenDepths: Wrote his own autobiography without a ghostwriter, which is pretty impressive considering the sheer amounts of drugs he was on at various points in his life.
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* RockStarSong: "Kings & Queens of the Underground", -- ''heavily'' inspired by his memoirs, which he was writing at the time.

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* RockStarSong: "Kings & Queens of the Underground", Underground" -- ''heavily'' inspired by his memoirs, which he was writing at the time.
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* RockStarSong: "Kings & Queens of the Underground", - ''heavily'' inspired by his memoirs, which he was writing at the time.

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* RockStarSong: "Kings & Queens of the Underground", - -- ''heavily'' inspired by his memoirs, which he was writing at the time.
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* RockStarSong: "Kings & Queens of the Underground", which is ''heavily'' inspired by his memoirs, which he was writing at the time.

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* RockStarSong: "Kings & Queens of the Underground", which is - ''heavily'' inspired by his memoirs, which he was writing at the time.
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* RockStarSong: "Kings & Queens of the Underground", which is ''heavily'' inspired by his memoirs, which he was writing at the time.
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* OldShame: His infamous ''Rolling Stone'' cover story (pictured as the page image), mostly due to the fact the pictures embarrassed the hell out of him, and because he was drunk and stoned out of his mind during the interview resulting in a less than flattering portrayal.
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* OldShame: His infamous ''Rolling Stone'' cover story (pictured as the page image), mostly due to the fact the pictures embarrassed the hell out of him, and because he was drunk and stoned out of his mind during the interview resulting in a less than flattering portrayal.
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* BadassGrandpa / CoolOldGuy: Sells out arenas even in his late 50s.

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* BadassGrandpa / CoolOldGuy: Sells out Fills arenas even in his late 50s.at 58.



* OlderThanTheyLook: He's in his late 50s, but still looks 40-something.

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* OlderThanTheyLook: He's in his late 50s, 58, but still looks 40-something.
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* BadassGrandpa / CoolOldGuy: Sells out arenas even in his late 50s.


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* OlderThanTheyLook: He's in his late 50s, but still looks 40-something.
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* TheDeadCanDance: The video for "Dancing With Myself."



* TheDeadCanDance: The video for "Dancing With Myself."
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Trivia


* {{Jossed}}: Idol himself denies "Dancing With Myself" is about [[ADateWithRosiePalms masturbation]].
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* GreatestHitsAlbum: ''Vital Idol'', ''Idol Songs'', ''Greatest Hits'' and ''The Very Best Of Billy Idol: Idolize Yourself''.

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* GreatestHitsAlbum: ''Vital Idol'', Idol'' (which is a Greatest Hits Remixed album), ''Idol Songs'', ''Greatest Hits'' and ''The Very Best Of Billy Idol: Idolize Yourself''.

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Billy Idol contains examples of the following tropes:

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Billy !!Billy Idol contains examples of the following tropes:
tropes:


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* ItWontTurnOff: The video for "Cradle Of Love", where the man who lets the girl next door play her song and goes crazy in his apartment tries to turn off the music, even by pulling the plug on the stereo.
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* PopPunk: More inclined towards NewWave, but still.

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* PopPunk: More inclined towards NewWave, {{New Wave|Music}}, but still.
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* PopPunk:
* ScaryMusicianHarmlessMusic:

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* PopPunk:
PopPunk: More inclined towards NewWave, but still.
* ScaryMusicianHarmlessMusic:ScaryMusicianHarmlessMusic
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* BreakupBreakout -- Man, did he ever.
* GratuitousFrench -- "Eyes without a Face"
* GreatestHitsAlbum -- ''Vital Idol'', ''Idol Songs'', ''Greatest Hits'' and ''The Very Best Of Billy Idol: Idolize Yourself''.
* IntercourseWithYou -- "Rebel Yell".
* {{Jossed}} -- Idol himself denies "Dancing With Myself" is about [[ADateWithRosiePalms masturbation]].
* MetalScream -- "WITH A REBEL YELL SHE CRIES MORE, MORE, MORE... OWWWW!!!"
* MoneySong -- "Mony Mony" ([[CoveredUp which is a cover...]])
* NewSoundAlbum -- ''Cyberpunk'' was recorded with an Apple computer and was his first [[DorkAge (and last)]] attempt at a ConceptAlbum.
* PerformanceVideo -- "Rebel Yell."
* PopPunk
* ScaryMusicianHarmlessMusic
* SelfTitledAlbum -- His debut in 1982.
* ShotgunWedding -- "White Wedding." (and people still play in weddings, [[IsntItIronic based on the title alone]])
* SomethingSomethingLeonardBernstein -- Just what the hell are those backup singers saying during "Mony Mony"?
** AudienceParticipationSong -- They're actually yelling "HEY MOTHERFUCKER GET LAID GET FUCKED". The song is a live performance, after all.
* StageNames -- Real name William Broad. He apparently chose it because his teachers described him as idle...
* SubduedSection -- Inverted in "Eyes without a Face".
* TheDeadCanDance -- The video for "Dancing With Myself."
* VerbalTic -- "OWW!"
* ZombieApocalypse -- The "Dancing With Myself" video again.

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* BreakupBreakout -- BreakupBreakout: Man, did he ever.
* GratuitousFrench -- GratuitousFrench: {{Subverted|Trope}} with the song "Eyes without a Face"
Face". the French words in their are a references to the film the song is based on.
* GreatestHitsAlbum -- GreatestHitsAlbum: ''Vital Idol'', ''Idol Songs'', ''Greatest Hits'' and ''The Very Best Of Billy Idol: Idolize Yourself''.
* IntercourseWithYou -- IntercourseWithYou: "Rebel Yell".
* {{Jossed}} -- {{Jossed}}: Idol himself denies "Dancing With Myself" is about [[ADateWithRosiePalms masturbation]].
* MetalScream -- "WITH A REBEL YELL SHE CRIES MORE, MORE, MORE... OWWWW!!!"
* MoneySong -- MoneySong: "Mony Mony" ([[CoveredUp which is a cover...]])
* NewSoundAlbum -- NewSoundAlbum: ''Cyberpunk'' was recorded with an Apple computer and was his first [[DorkAge (and last)]] attempt at a ConceptAlbum.
* PerformanceVideo -- PerformanceVideo: "Rebel Yell."
* PopPunk
PopPunk:
* ScaryMusicianHarmlessMusic
ScaryMusicianHarmlessMusic:
* SelfTitledAlbum -- SelfTitledAlbum: His debut in 1982.
* ShotgunWedding -- ShotgunWedding: "White Wedding." (and people still play in weddings, [[IsntItIronic based on the title alone]])
* SomethingSomethingLeonardBernstein -- SomethingSomethingLeonardBernstein: Just what the hell are those backup singers saying during "Mony Mony"?
** AudienceParticipationSong -- AudienceParticipationSong: They're actually yelling "HEY MOTHERFUCKER GET LAID GET FUCKED". The song is a live performance, after all.
* StageNames -- StageNames: Real name William Broad. He apparently chose it because his teachers described him as idle...
* SubduedSection -- SubduedSection: Inverted in "Eyes without a Face".
* TheDeadCanDance -- TheDeadCanDance: The video for "Dancing With Myself."
* VerbalTic -- VerbalTic: "OWW!"
* ZombieApocalypse -- ZombieApocalypse: The "Dancing With Myself" video again.

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* IntercourseWithYou

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* IntercourseWithYouIntercourseWithYou -- "Rebel Yell".



* SomethingSomethingLeonardBernstein: Just what the hell are those backup singers saying during "Mony Mony"?

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* SomethingSomethingLeonardBernstein: SomethingSomethingLeonardBernstein -- Just what the hell are those backup singers saying during "Mony Mony"?Mony"?
** AudienceParticipationSong -- They're actually yelling "HEY MOTHERFUCKER GET LAID GET FUCKED". The song is a live performance, after all.
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Added DiffLines:

* SomethingSomethingLeonardBernstein: Just what the hell are those backup singers saying during "Mony Mony"?

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