1955 - Today
William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is a British singer, songwriter, musician and actor. He also holds United States citizenship. He first achieved fame in the 1970s emerging from the London punk rock scene as the lead singer of the group Generation X. Subsequently, he embarked on a solo career which led to international recognition and made Idol a lead artist during the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" in the US. The name "Billy Idol" was inspired by a schoolteacher's description of him as "idle".Idol began his music career in late 1976 as a guitarist in the punk rock band Chelsea. Read more on Wikipedia
Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Billy Idol has received more than 10,495,947 page views. His biography is available in 42 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 40 in 2019). Billy Idol is the 220th most popular musician (up from 284th in 2019), the 856th most popular biography from United Kingdom (up from 1,026th in 2019) and the 50th most popular British Musician.
Page Views (PV)
Historical Popularity Index (HPI)
Languages Editions (L)
Effective Languages (L*)
Coefficient of Variation (CV)
Among musicians, Billy Idol ranks 220 out of 2,662. Before him are Duff McKagan, Lucio Dalla, John Cale, J. J. Cale, Leslie Cheung, and Mike Shinoda. After him are Romano Mussolini, Stéphane Grappelli, Ken Hensley, Izzy Stradlin, Kirk Hammett, and Marilyn Manson.
1964 - Present
HPI: 60.60
Rank: 214
1943 - 2012
HPI: 60.60
Rank: 215
1942 - Present
HPI: 60.52
Rank: 216
1938 - 2013
HPI: 60.50
Rank: 217
1956 - 2003
HPI: 60.50
Rank: 218
1977 - Present
HPI: 60.47
Rank: 219
1955 - Present
HPI: 60.44
Rank: 220
1927 - 2006
HPI: 60.36
Rank: 221
1908 - 1997
HPI: 60.31
Rank: 222
1945 - 2020
HPI: 60.28
Rank: 223
1962 - Present
HPI: 60.28
Rank: 224
1962 - Present
HPI: 60.26
Rank: 225
1969 - Present
HPI: 60.24
Rank: 226
Among people born in 1955, Billy Idol ranks 46. Before him are Denis Mukwege, Katalin Karikó, Egils Levits, J. K. Simmons, Shoko Asahara, and Martin Schulz. After him are Brendan Gleeson, François Cluzet, Haitham bin Tariq, Yuriy Sedykh, Eddie Van Halen, and Richard Schiff.
1955 - Present
HPI: 61.05
Rank: 40
1955 - Present
HPI: 60.97
Rank: 41
1955 - Present
HPI: 60.89
Rank: 42
1955 - Present
HPI: 60.87
Rank: 43
1955 - 2018
HPI: 60.79
Rank: 44
1955 - Present
HPI: 60.64
Rank: 45
1955 - Present
HPI: 60.44
Rank: 46
1955 - Present
HPI: 60.43
Rank: 47
1955 - Present
HPI: 60.33
Rank: 48
1955 - Present
HPI: 59.64
Rank: 49
1955 - 2021
HPI: 59.59
Rank: 50
1955 - 2020
HPI: 59.57
Rank: 51
1955 - Present
HPI: 59.54
Rank: 52
Among people born in United Kingdom, Billy Idol ranks 856 out of 7,765. Before him are Albert Pierrepoint (1905), W. H. Auden (1907), Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax (1881), Olave Baden-Powell (1889), William Penn (1645), and William John Macquorn Rankine (1820). After him are Harthacnut I of Denmark (880), John Hawkins (1532), Kevin Keegan (1951), Princess Lilian, Duchess of Halland (1915), Duncan I of Scotland (1001), and Bernard Hill (1944).
1905 - 1992
HPI: 60.49
Rank: 850
1907 - 1973
HPI: 60.47
Rank: 851
1881 - 1959
HPI: 60.47
Rank: 852
1889 - 1977
HPI: 60.46
Rank: 853
1645 - 1718
HPI: 60.45
Rank: 854
1820 - 1872
HPI: 60.44
Rank: 855
1955 - Present
HPI: 60.44
Rank: 856
880 - 1000
HPI: 60.43
Rank: 857
1532 - 1595
HPI: 60.43
Rank: 858
1951 - Present
HPI: 60.42
Rank: 859
1915 - 2013
HPI: 60.41
Rank: 860
1001 - 1040
HPI: 60.41
Rank: 861
1944 - Present
HPI: 60.40
Rank: 862
Among musicians born in United Kingdom, Billy Idol ranks 50. Before him are George Martin (1926), John Paul Jones (1946), Ian Paice (1948), Amy Winehouse (1983), Pete Townshend (1945), and John Cale (1942). After him are Ken Hensley (1945), John Mayall (1933), Keith Moon (1946), John McLaughlin (1942), Steve Harris (1956), and Karl Jenkins (1944).
1926 - 2016
HPI: 61.87
Rank: 44
1946 - Present
HPI: 61.87
Rank: 45
1948 - Present
HPI: 61.86
Rank: 46
1983 - 2011
HPI: 61.47
Rank: 47
1945 - Present
HPI: 60.63
Rank: 48
1942 - Present
HPI: 60.52
Rank: 49
1955 - Present
HPI: 60.44
Rank: 50
1945 - 2020
HPI: 60.28
Rank: 51
1933 - Present
HPI: 60.12
Rank: 52
1946 - 1978
HPI: 60.11
Rank: 53
1942 - Present
HPI: 60.00
Rank: 54
1956 - Present
HPI: 59.89
Rank: 55
1944 - Present
HPI: 59.89
Rank: 56