Breakup Breakout: Man, did he ever. Generation X, for all their attributes, don't get much press these days, unless it's to talk about how Billy absolutely skyrocketed to stardom after the band broke up.
He dislikes his infamous Rolling Stone cover story, mostly because 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.
In the '80s, Billy sometimes sported the Confederate flag on his jackets. According to Billy, he had his hair done by a black stylist circa-1990, and in the ensuing conversation, the guy told him about the negative feelings black people in America had about the flag. Billy took it to heart, and made a point to never wear the flag again.
Creator Couple: Perri Lister, Idol's girlfriend for much of the 80s, was the female backing vocalist on "Eyes Without a Face". She also appeared in the videos for "White Wedding" (as the bride) and an alternate video for "Hot in the City" (in which she's bound to a cross).
Creator Killer: His career never recovered from the 1993 bomb of Cyberpunk, a Concept Album inspired by the cyberpunk literary movement and the new computer technology of the time. His new image and sound, far from futuristic and rebellious, were ironically seen as woefully out-of-date and pretentious at the height of the grunge era, while actual cyberpunk enthusiasts saw him as a shallow poser. Between that and a near-fatal drug overdose shortly after, Idol went on hiatus for eleven years starting in 1994 in order to concentrate on his family.
Chart Displacement: His only US #1 hit is... a live cover of "Mony Mony". And the forgotten "To Be A Lover" was a Top 10 hit, while "Rebel Yell" and "White Wedding" couldn't even break the top 30, and "Dancing With Myself" didn't reach the Hot 100 at all.
"Eyes Without A Face" suffered from quite a few setbacks. It was 3 days straight of Billy staring straight into a camera. He was given brand new contacts, but dry ice was being sprayed at his face, causing the lenses to become infused into his face. The day after shooting, he had a show in Arizona. He fell asleep in the grass outside the stadium, and the contacts caused his eyes to look so bloodshot, police thought he was doing drugs. He woke up with a gun pointed in his face and had to depend on his crew to prove that he was innocent.
"Flesh For Fantasy" fared even worse. Billy and his girlfriend Perri Lister had a screaming match complete with a door slam, leading to the dancers gossiping, causing drama. Producer John Diaz's production company was behind on a prior shoot, causing them to have to push production back several hours and fly the crew in via Learjet to work on the new one. Filming lasted hours on end, with one day of shooting going well over 36 hours. There was a long dolly shot of the final set up and one of the camera-men couldn't do it because he had gone blind due to 6 days of constant work. Director Howie Deutch stayed awake all 6 days of production, causing his contacts to get stuck into his dry eyes.
He was one of several artists to turn down performing "Don't You Forget About Me", which was ultimately made famous by Simple Minds (who initially wanted to turn it down themselves). In 2001, he recorded his own version as a new track on a Greatest Hits Album.
He was the first choice to play the T-1000 in Terminator 2: Judgment Day, but he broke his leg and wrist in a motorcycle accident before filming could start.
One of the original scripts for Say Anything... had "To Be A Lover" as the song played during the boombox scene, rather than "In Your Eyes" by Peter Gabriel.
After Cyberpunk, it took 12 years for Billy to put out a new album (Devil's Playground in 2005). Billy did try to make a new album in the mid-1990s, even teaming with producer Glen Ballard to write some material, but it just never came together due to Creative Differences with EMI.
Billy was part of an incredible coincidence in the fall of 1987. Teen-pop sensation Tiffany spent two weeks at number one in America with her famous Cover Version of "I Think We're Alone Now" by Tommy James & The Shondells. She was dethroned by Billy Idol, who spent one week at the top spot with a Cover Version of "Mony Mony"... which was also by Tommy James & The Shondells. You don't see that every day (or ever). Furthering the coincidence, the two covers finished at #18 and #19 respectively on the year-end Hot 100.
The "exploding kitchen" set in the "White Wedding" video was the same one used in the video for "Ashes To Ashes" by David Bowie.
