The stage name “Billy Idol” was coined after a chemistry teacher, Bill Price, described Idol as “idle” on his school report card. Idol has stated that he had hated chemistry and underachieved in it. In a 1983 interview, he said of the name, “It 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.
Stage name Billy Idol coined
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