The circumstances had to be just right for the man born William Michael Albert Broad to become Billy Idol.
When Broad was still a teenager in school, a teacher wrote the words “William is idle” on one of his failed tests. Years later, the aspiring rocker was hanging out in London and needed to come up with a new name.
“We used to go to this lesbian club Louisa’s that was off Oxford Street,” Idol remembered during a recent appearance on the Full Disclosure podcast. “You had to have an identity card [to get in].”
At the time, it was common for London clubs to require membership cards for entry, a way to control clientele and also get around certain licensing laws. Recalling what his former teacher had written, the future rock star decided to have “Billy Idle” printed on his ID for the lesbian bar. Not long afterward, famous English journalist and counterculture icon Caroline Coon was writing a story on London’s growing punk scene.
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“When she was talking to me on the phone, she said ‘What do you want to be called in this [story]?’” the singer recalled. “And I said ‘Well, I was calling myself ‘Billy Idle.’”
Coon pointed out that Idle was the real last name of Monty Python comedian Eric Idle. As such, readers would likely think “Billy Idle” was the rocker’s real name, rather than a pun. At this point in his life, Broad was a little-known aspiring musician. Still, he was keenly aware of his image, and he knew that it needed to be clear that his moniker was chosen, rather than given.
“So I thought about it for 24 hours,” he explained. “And the next one, I called [Coon] back up and I said Billy I-D-O-L.”
Billy Idol Wasn’t Initially Comfortable With HIs Name
Despite his decision, Idol wasn’t fully on board with his new name.
“It was a bit like being your own hero,” the rocker joked. “It’s really like ridiculous. I thought, this is really daft. But at the same time, everyone was changing their name. Johnny Rotten or whatever. So I just thought yeah, I’ll be my own hero.”
It also helped that there was a similarly named musician already making waves among punk fans.
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“There was this chap in the Dolls, Billy Doll,” Idol noted, recalling original New York Dolls drummer Billy Murcia. “And I thought, ‘Well, Billy Idol’s not so different.’ I was talking myself into it.”
More than 50 years after becoming Billy Idol, the singer remains one of rock’s most distinctive personas. Idol is a nominee for the 2026 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame class, and his new documentary, Billy Idol Should Be Dead, is streaming on Hulu now.
Billy Idol Albums Ranked
The spiked-hair singer’s records mirror his life, from sneering punk to MTV star.
Gallery Credit: Michael Gallucci
