There was really nothing on any of the usual channels last night, which forced me into the second tier selections. I landed on Biography, which was playing a profile of Billy Idol. So, now I present to you: Billy Idol Trivia!

• Billy Idol’s first name is really William, but the Idol part is a stage name. It was an FU to a teacher that had referred to him as “an idle student.”
• Billy first made it big across the pond with a band called Generation X. He later felt restricted by the British Punk Rock scene and went to America to strike up a solo career. The Punk Rock scene was too asexual for Billy- he wanted to write more songs about sex.
• White Wedding is about his little sister, who got knocked up as a teenager and “bowed to social pressure” and married the dude who knocked her up.
• For most of his solo career, Billy partnered up with a guitar player named Steve Stevens. Later Steve and Billy had the requisite rock-n-roll falling out, and Steve went on to his own brief solo career. His biggest success (besides his rockin hair) was the Top Gun Anthem. Eventually Steve and Billy had the requisite rock-n-roll make up, and now they tour together again.
• During the shooting of the video for Eyes Without a Face, Billy spent 30 straight hours on the video shoot. The combination of hot lights and fog melted his contact lenses to his eyes. After the shoot he went outside and fell asleep on the lawn of the studio. A policeman woke him up, thinking he was a homeless guy. The cop noticed something wrong with Billy’s eyes and brought him to the hospital, just in time to save his vision.
• There’s a horrible “eyes/face/blind” pun somewhere in the that last bullet, but I won’t stoop that low.
• Rebel Yell, one of the most awesomely awesome songs ever, is named after a brand of whiskey.
• In 2006, Billy, like all stars looking to make a quick buck, released a Christmas album.

Source: Biography Channel