William Michael Albert Broad known professionally as Billy Idol is a British-American singer, songwriter, and musician. He first achieved fame in the 1970s emerging from the London punk rock scene as the lead singer of the group Generation X.
Subsequently, he embarked on a solo career which led to international recognition and made Idol a lead artist during the MTV-driven “Second British Invasion” in the United States. The name “Billy Idol” was inspired by a schoolteacher’s description of him as “idle”.
Idol began his music career in late 1976 as a guitarist in the punk rock band Chelsea. However, he soon left the group.
Idol’s second studio album, Rebel Yell (1983), was a major commercial success. Idol spent the second half of the 1990s focusing on his personal life out of the public eye. He made a musical comeback with the release of Devil’s Playground (2005) and again with Kings & Queens of the Underground (2014).
Billy Idol Children: Meet Bonnie Blue & Willem Wolfe Broad
Idol has never married but had a long-term relationship with English singer, dancer, and former Hot Gossip member Perri Lister. They have a son, Willem Wolf Broad, who was born in Los Angeles in 1988. Willem has been a member of the rock band FIM.
Billy Idol’s son Willem Wolf Broad, also known as Willem Wolfe, has followed in his father’s footsteps and gone on to sing in bands and DJ. According to Rock NYC, he was in the band FIM with his childhood friend Brandon Rauch; the video for the song “Almost Dead,”(via YouTube), features a gothic wedding vibe, bringing to mind the famous “White Wedding” video made by his parents nearly 40 years earlier.
Billy Idol’s daughter Bonnie Blue was born on August 21, 1989, in the United States of America to Linda Mathis. As of 2022, she is 33 years old.
In a 2010 interview with the New York Daily News, Idol said of his daughter Bonnie Blue Broad “My daughter doesn’t exhibit any interest in the business. She entered college this year to study writing. She is actually very good.