My first cousin is Billy Idol. He is the son of my father’s brother. Both my father and Billy Idol’s father are now deceased. Billy Idol’s real name is William Broad. My name is Michael Broad.
In the news today (the date of this post), on the website pagesix.com, there is a report about the memoir of a ‘glam-rock weirdo’, Adam Bomb. He claimed that in the 1980s the “White Wedding” singer flew into a fit of rage, grabbed hold of a kitten and threw her/him against the wall of their apartment and killed her.
Bomb says in his book that his then ‘honcho’ (girlfriend?), Claire O’Connor, told him that:
“Billy Idol could get really vile. He got Perri a kitten, and after a nasty argument, he threw the kitten against the wall in their apartment and killed it”. (note: I have been told that ‘Perri’ was not the name of the kitten but a girlfriend of Billy’s)
Obviously I’m ashamed of my cousin if this allegation is true. There’s no reason to disbelieve the testimony of Claire O’Connor and therefore I have to believe that it is true. It is probable that at the time Billy Idol was either drinking or taking drugs and lost control. However, I’m not defending him. He possibly hates or dislikes cats which is ironic because we are obviously on the opposite ends of the spectrum with respect to our relationship with the domestic cat. Billy admits he has made some awful decisions in his life. That probably includes his behaviour on occasions.
I met and played with Billy Idol way back when I was a teenager or even perhaps earlier than that. I don’t recall meeting him since. He was at his father’s party which I attended at the time when his father was dying. He did not come down to the party from a bedroom upstairs as I recall. That was the last time that I had an opportunity to meet him.
: ) Thanks RM. I was genuinely shocked to read of this.
I was shocked this morning when I read this. He should have been like me in terms of being incapable of even thinking about being cruel to animals. Not sure what happened as his parents were nice people.
🙂 Many thanks. I was shocked to read this.
Michael….You don’t get to choose your relatives. This was more than 30 years ago. It is no more dreadful than every other instance of animal abuse. You didn’t know about it then. Although I can only imagine your shame at being in any way connected to such a person, rest assured that if you had known, we can all be sure you would have reacted strongly. According to our records here, he is WILLIAM Michael Albert Broad: not exactly your namesake.
You have more than compensated for this cruel act from a family member. Although I’ve enjoyed his music, I may feel differently now.
Thank you for sharing this.
Genes aren’t that important — & we like you much better!