Billy Idol Shares The Career Advice David Bowie And Lou Reed Gave Him

Billy Idol opened up about the early years of Generation X and their massive success and fame in a short time during his recent interview with Louder Sound. The musician also revealed what iconic artists David Bowie and The Velvet Underground’s Lou Reed said to them about their careers.

The punk rock band Generation X was the milestone era for Billy Idol’s career as the band’s lead vocalist. The band’s first stage appearance took place at the Central School of Art and Design on December 10, 1976, and they performed an opening act for The Roxy. The band played Jimi Hendrix and Deep Purple songs in the beginning. However, they understood that they had to be different by creating unique and unmatchable music.

While making this vital decision about their musical direction and journey in the rock industry, they remembered Bowie and Reed’s words. They advised them to be themselves rather than being another version of the bands like The Sex Pistols, The Crash, or Buzzcocks. They only needed to be Generation X, which brought the band members to fame and commercial success, especially for Idol.

In addition, as a person who had previously defined ‘Under Pressure’ by Queen and Bowie as a fantastic work with well-crafted sounds and lyrics and always praised Reed’s talent and genius, Idol knew that he should listen to what they said. Therefore, the famous singer did the right by following this precious advice from two musicians, considering Idol’s longtime career full of success. He paid tribute to them one more time by reminding us of their words.

Idol stated in his interview that:

“Tony and I got on well. We found Derwood playing in a youth club in Fulham, doing Jimi Hendrix and Deep Purple stuff. We knew we all had to be a little different. Lou Reed and David Bowie had been saying to us, ‘You’ve got to be yourself, find out who you are, and be it.’ So we knew we were not going to be the Sex Pistols or The Clash or Buzzcocks. We’re going to be Generation X.”

You can listen to the Bowie and Queen song below.