Billy Idol ( b3 )

 He then went on to join the Bromley Contingent of Sex Pistols fans, a loose gang that travelled to wherever the band played.

Career

1976–1981: Generation X

Main article: Generation X (band)

The name "Billy Idol" was coined due to a chemistry teacher's description of Idol on his school report card as "idle". Idol has stated that the subject was one that he hated and in which he underachieved. In an interview on 21 November 1983, Idol said the name "Billy Idol" "was a bit of a goof, but part of the old English school of rock. It was a 'double thing', not just a poke at the superstar-like people... It was fun, you know?" In another interview for BBC Breakfast in October 2014, he said that he wanted to use the name "Billy Idle", but thought the name would be unavailable due to its similarity to the name of Monty Python star Eric Idle and chose Billy Idol instead.

In late 1976, he joined the newly-formed West London 1960s retro-rock band Chelsea as a guitarist. The act's singer/frontman Gene October styled Idol's image, advising him to change his short sighted eye-glasses for contact lenses, and dye his hair blonde with a crew cut for a retro-1950s rocker look. After a few weeks performing with Chelsea, Idol and Tony James, the band's bass guitarist, quit the act and co-founded Generation X, with Idol switching from guitarist to the role of singer/frontman. Generation X was one of the first punk bands to appear on the BBC Television music programme Top of the Pops. Although a punk rock band, they were inspired by mid-1960s British pop, in sharp contrast to their more militant peers, with Idol stating; "We were saying the opposite to the Clash and the Pistols. They were singing 'No Elvis, Beatles or the Rolling Stones', but we were honest about what we liked.

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