From Generation X to MTV: Billy Idol’s Rise Through Pop‑Punk and Punk Rock

Explore Billy Idol’s early days with the London pop‑punk band Generation X, their brief chart moments under the independent label Chrysalis, the internal tensions that led to the group’s split, and how those experiences fed his transition to a solo career in New York that ultimately found visual fame on MTV. This episode traces the musical and business threads that connected the gritty punk scene of 1976–80 with the glittering mainstream spotlight of the mid‑1980s. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices