By Penny Bancroft
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is an English punk singer, songwriter, musician and actor. He 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 US.
Idol began his music career in late 1976 as a guitarist in the punk rock band Chelsea; he left the group after a few weeks. With his former bandmate Tony James, Idol formed Generation X. With Idol as lead singer, the band achieved success in the United Kingdom and released three studio albums on Chrysalis Records, then disbanded. In 1981, Idol moved to New York City to pursue his solo career in collaboration with guitarist Steve Stevens. His debut studio album, Billy Idol (1982), was a commercial success. With music videos for singles “Dancing with Myself” and “White Wedding” Idol became a staple of the newly established MTV.
Idol’s second studio album, Rebel Yell (1983), was a major commercial success, featuring hit singles “Rebel Yell” and “Eyes Without a Face“. The album was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipment of two million copies in the US. In 1986, he released Whiplash Smile. Idol released a 1988 greatest hits album titled Idol Songs: 11 of the Best; the album went platinum in the United Kingdom. Idol released Charmed Life (1990) and the concept album Cyberpunk (1993).
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).
Idol has never married, but was in a long-term relationship with English singer, dancer, and former Hot Gossip member Perri Lister. They have a son, Willem, who was born in Los Angeles in 1988 and who has been a member of the rock band FIM. Lister and Idol separated in 1989. Idol also has a daughter from a relationship with Linda Mathis.
In 2018, Idol became a naturalised American citizen during a ceremony in Los Angeles, while retaining his British citizenship.[68] Idol has two grandchildren.
TODAY’S ALMANAC
Question of the Day
Advice of the Day
Home Hint of the Day
Word of the Day
Puzzle of the Day
Born
- Andrea Palladio (architect) –
- Jonathan Swift (satirist) –
- Mark Twain (writer; pen name, Mark Twain; real name, Samuel Langhorne Clemens) –
- Sir Winston Churchill (British Prime Minister) –
- Lucy Maud Montgomery (author) –
- Donald Ogden Stewart (actor) –
- Clyfford Still (artist) –
- Virginia Mayo (actress) –
- Dick Clark (entertainer) –
- Woody Allen (actor & producer) –
- David Mamet (dramatist) –
- Mandy Patinkin (actor & singer) –
- Billy Idol (singer) –
- Bo Jackson (football & baseball player) –
- Clay Aiken (singer) –
- Elisha Cuthbert (actress) –
- Kaley Cuoco (actress) –
- Chrissy Teigen (television personality) –
- Dylan Cash (actor) –
Died
- Oscar Wilde (writer) –
- Sister Kenny (nurse who developed a method for treating victims of the disease infantile paralysis) –
- Johnny Roventini (radio and TV ad pitchman in the 1930s and 40s) –
- Gertrude Ederle (first woman to swim the English Channel) –
- Pierre Berton (author) –
- Evel Knievel (stunt motorcyclist) –
- Paul Walker (actor) –
- Jim Nabors (actor and singer) –
- George H.W. Bush (41st U.S. president) –
- Christine McVie (musician ) –
Events
- Anniversary of Mark Twain’s birth–
- The Mason jar developed by John Mason was patented–
- U.S. patent was issued to Johann Waehner of New York City for a necktie fastener–
- Comedienne Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz married–
- Meteorite hit Ann Hodges in her home in Sylacauga, Alabama–
- Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics scored his 20,000th career point–
- A pristine copy of Action Comics #1, famed for the first appearance of Superman, sold for $2,161,000. It was the first comic book to break the $2 million mark.–
- Discovery of 215 fossilized pterosaur eggs in Gobi Desert, China, announced–
Weather
- The Erie Canal closed due to severely cold weather–
- A Midwest cold wave brought a temperature of 17 degrees below zero F to Minneapolis–
- A tornado claimed 2 lives in Simsboro, Louisiana–
COURTESY www.almanac.com
