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BILLY IDOL

Billy Idol's back—and people are saying he’s better than ever. Billy was on the top of the world several years ago. Billy, who began his career in England with Generation X at the height of the punk movement, took the attitude and antics of punk rock, and synthesized them into a format that would appeal to an American pop audience.

July 2, 1987

BILLY IDOL

Billy Idol's back—and people are saying he’s better than ever. Billy was on the top of the world several years ago. Billy, who began his career in England with Generation X at the height of the punk movement, took the attitude and antics of punk rock, and synthesized them into a format that would appeal to an American pop audience. Some purists screamed "sell out’—but the move made Billy a genuine superstar. And it seemed like he'd never again look down after the success of his smash album, Rebel Yell. But then he disappeared almost as fast as he'd risen to the top. It took him several years to complete his recent LP. Whiplash Smile. Rumors abounded that he was seriously ill, strung out on drugs—and even dead—during that time. But now Billy's back to prove them wrong with the Whiplash Smile tour, his first U.S. jaunt in over two years.

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