For Billy Idol, Less Is More, More, More

You had a health challenge [a MRSA-related sinus infection] a few years ago that led you to cancel a tour. Did it leave any lingering effects?

No, actually, it seems like it’s OK. It’s just one of the things you had to take care of. My mother had a really bad heart. I’ve never got the heart problems that she had on the Irish side of my family. So I’ve been lucky. I would never have thought that the rock ’n’ roll actually keeps you — as long as you’re not f---ing yourself up — really healthy, because you always have to do something that’s like a cardio exercise. It’s the most amazing cardio exercise of this age, actually.

I’ve heard that. Steven Van Zandt, 74, told me he attributes staying young to rock ’n’ roll. 

Anybody who wants to know, if you’re looking for an exercise, just pretend to be me for an hour and a half onstage.

Who inspired your rock ’n’ roll ambitions?

When I was 7 years old, I fell in love with the Beatles because they were just sort of revitalizing England. England was in this terrible place. It hadn’t recovered from the Second World War, and then the Beatles came along. They just … made everybody feel youthful and young. And then I followed all the rest of the music that happened, all the progressive rock that happened in the ’60s. And then eventually got into punk rock, into the Velvet Underground and Iggy [Pop, 77] and the Stooges. David Bowie, because he was speaking a lot to us in the ’60s and ’70s. … And I love Elvis Presley. There’s a lot about Elvis. He was so great in the ’50s, and his early music is so good.

When did you know that you had made it, that the struggle maybe was over? 

Well, coming to America and having success in America is always a gigantic thing for people from England or Europe. Because England, you could tour it in three weeks and it’s over, you know? But America, you can tour forever, you know? But just also that’s a doorway into the rest of the world. I was in an elevator once in New York, and there’s Frank Sinatra singing, “If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere.” And I was making it in New York ... and it’s been amazing. 

Idol and John Taylor of Duran Duran perform during a Valentine’s Day party at the Limelight nightclub in New York in 1985. Idol's advice to his younger self? "Don’t worry so much. You just don’t know where life’s going. It’s not so easy."

Vinnie Zuffante/Getty Images

What does it mean to you to get your first nomination for a place in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame? 

I was part of Ozzy’s [Osbourne, 76] induction as a solo artist last year. It was a fantastic night — I saw a million people I knew, meeting Jelly Roll. It was a great night, and so that really made me sort of love the idea of being in it. Some of those early rock ’n’ roll stars are in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: Buddy Holly, Bo Diddley, Little Richard. Just the idea that you’re in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with people like that, or Link Wray, it’s kind of incredible, and I could never have imagined that a million years ago. So yeah, if I get in, I’m really looking forward to it. And Steve Stevens is being inducted with me, so that’s fantastic. Without him, I don’t know if I’d be here.

You’ve spoken out about people online pretending to be you to scam your fans. That must be scary.

Identity theft is massive, and it is a little scary, yeah. You’re always dealing with that online. And now, with AI, they can really replicate you and make people think this is you saying something. That’s going to be difficult to deal with. There’s a lot of people winding people up and then they really believe it’s you. And you’re trying to tell them, “It’s not me, it’s somebody scamming you.” It can be quite heartbreaking.

Do you have any regrets?

Not really. I mean, there are things, of course, that go wrong in life. I had a funny relationship with my dad for a long time, but toward the end of his life we repaired it. We had a great last 20 years, so I was lucky. I wanted him to love me how I wanted to be loved, but I realized one day, Dad’s loving me how he can. I’m lucky he loves me at all. I just got to love him back. We got over a lot, so maybe things like that, you’re able to make it better. 

And what about your own kids? [Idol has never been married.]

My son [Willem, 36, with former partner Perri Lister] is a musician. He does a lot of the modern sort of mix music, and that kind of big great beats and electronic music. He’s got a punk rock group as well … so he’s got his foot in both camps. It’s been exciting watching him do music. My other children — my daughter [Bonnie, 35, with former partner Linda Mathis] is a mother with two girls, Poppy and MaryJane, and then my other son [Brant, 39] pours concrete for a living. He’s got his own business, so he’s doing really well. They seem to be enjoying life. He’s got two children [daughter McKenzie; son Mason]. So I’ve got four grandchildren — three girls and a boy.

How do you like being a granddad? 

It’s fantastic. I mean, that’s the great thing — you’re not disciplining them! You’re really there as someone they know and love. Little MaryJane, she was watching Taylor Swift. And she said twice, she looked around and went, “I want to do that.” So you never know. Maybe there’s a little bit of a performing gene in them. … We’ll have to see. 

Do they know you’re a rock star?

Yes, they’ve seen me perform. MaryJane was trying to get to the front of the stage the whole performance. Yeah, I think they know what Granddad does and yeah, they seem to enjoy it. It’s great.

What would you tell your younger self?

Don’t worry so much. You just don’t know where life’s going. It’s not so easy. But of course at the time …  you had to sort of fight to be who you are a little bit. A big part of being a performer or an artist is finding out who you are and being it. And the people we loved, Lou Reed or David Bowie or John Lennon, were kind of telling you that without saying that. But that’s what you had to do. 

Although things have changed dramatically in your business, what advice do you think remains the same?

The only thing I can say is you just got to stick to it, stick at it. Somehow, by hook or by crook, it will come right. That’s what happened with me … but it’s not easy. It’s particularly not easy when you don’t quite have the support from the record companies we had. It was a difficult world to get on a record company, but once you’re on one, there was a lot of support from them. That’s not there today, so I know it’s a lot more difficult. But there again, you can make music in your house. You couldn’t do that quite so easily when it’s reel-to-reel tape recorders. You needed the record companies. So I know it’s very difficult, but that’s the one thing — if you stick to it, it does come right. It’s a payoff.