{"id":460608,"date":"2026-05-26T10:27:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T10:27:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/460608\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T10:27:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T10:27:16","slug":"billy-idol-makes-empowering-speech-performs-dancing-with-myself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/460608\/","title":{"rendered":"Billy Idol Makes Empowering Speech Performs Dancing With Myself"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tBilly Idol was honored with a lifetime achievement award at the 2026 American Music Awards<\/a> on Monday night. The \u201cWhite Wedding\u201d singer and bona fide \u201880s rock icon, who was spotted in the audience by host Queen Latifah early in the show, gave an empowering acceptance speech and soon mesmerized the crowd with a medley of \u201cEyes Without a Face\u201d and \u201cDancing With Myself.\u201d He was accompanied by his longtime songwriting collaborator and guitarist Steve Stevens, who\u2019s been by his side since the \u201880s.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhen I started out in punk rock back in 1976, we thought it may only last about six months \u2014 let alone 50 years,\u201d Idol told the audience. \u201cWe were doing it for the love. We were doing it for the love and because music<\/a> was the only thing that gave us a sort of feeling of freedom, a sense of freedom. We believed in what we were doing and we thought maybe if we just dreamed into this life and gave it everything we had, it would give it all back to us in spades. And that\u2019s exactly what happened.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cSo to any kid out there who loves rock \u2018n roll, or any music of any kind, as much as Leon [Thomas] and I do, if you\u2019re inspired to create that sense of freedom and pursue a life of art, all I can say is, pick an instrument, find out who you are and be it. Thank you for rock \u2018n roll. Thank you to everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter a stint fronting the \u201870s post-punk band Generation X, the Middlesex, England-born Idol snarled his way into fans\u2019 hearts beginning in 1982 with his self-titled debut, which produced the single \u201cWhite Wedding (Pt. 1).\u201d His sophomore album, Rebel Yell, arrived in 1983 and was quickly certified double platinum largely in part to songs like \u201cEyes Without a Face,\u201d \u201cFlesh For Fantasy\u201d and the title track. Following the mainstream success of Rebel Yell, he evolved into a global star and would go on to release nine more albums, including his latest, 2025\u2019s Dream Into It.<\/p>\n

\n\tIdol will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in November alongside Joy Division\/New Order, Phil Collins, Iron Maiden, Wu-Tang Clan, Oasis, Sade and Luther Vandross.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe American Music Awards<\/a> were created by Dick Clark Productions. DCP is owned by Penske Media Corporation, The Hollywood Reporter\u2018s parent company, in a subsidiary joint venture between Penske Media and Eldridge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Billy Idol was honored with a lifetime achievement award at the 2026 American Music Awards on Monday night.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":460609,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[200210,214487,110457,1096,146,85,46,409],"class_list":["post-460608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-amas","tag-amas-2026","tag-american-music-awards","tag-awards","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=460608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460608\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/460609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=460608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=460608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=460608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}