Billy Idol

His newest album, Devil's Playground, is due out March 16, 2005, and is his first new studio album in nearly 12 years. However, today there can be found no statue, plaque or even sign anywhere in New York honoring Jolson, his talents, or his contributions to the Broadway stage. Idol appeared on VH1 Storytellers and issued a Greatest Hits CD in 2001. On the day he died, Broadway turned off its lights for 10 minutes in his honor. Idol returned to the popular eye in 1998, when he played himself in The Wedding Singer, an Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore romantic comedy. He died on October 23, 1950 in San Francisco and was interred in the Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California. The follow-up to Charmed Life was 1993's Cyberpunk (see 1993 in music), which was a flop, and Idol sank into drug addiction, nearly dying of an overdose in 1994. A life-long devotion to entertaining American troops, servicemen and women, (he first sang for servicemen of the Spanish-American War as a boy in Washington DC) and, against the advice of his doctors, he was entertaining troops in Korea in 1950 when his heart began to fail.

The album sold extremely well, but Idol decided to take a break and acted in The Doors, directed by Oliver Stone. Jolson was billed as "The World's Greatest Entertainer", which is how many of the greatest stars (including Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Elvis Presley, Mick Jagger, Rod Stewart, Jackie Wilson, etc.) referred to him. Just before the release of Charmed Life in 1990 (see 1990 in music), Idol was in a motorcycle accident in which he almost lost his leg. His legacy is considered by many to be severely neglected today because of his use of stage blackface which, while at the time was a theatrical convention used by many performers (both white and black), but is today seen by many as a racial slur. A cover of Tommy James' "Mony Mony" did well on MTV and Idol playing Cousin Kevin in a performance of Tommy. Despite such singers as Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and Perry Como being in their primes, Jolson was voted the "Most Popular Male Vocalist" in 1948 by a Variety poll. Stevens soon left for a solo career and Idol continued. A box office smash (it was the highest grossing film since Gone With the Wind) led to a whole new generation who became enthralled with Jolson's voice and charisma.

Idol didn't release a new album until 1987 (see 1987 in music); Whiplash Smile sold well, but failed to live up to expectations. However, Jolson scored what many believe to be the greatest comeback in show business history when Columbia Pictures produced the film biography The Jolson Story in 1946, which starred Larry Parks as Jolson, lip-synching to Jolson's voice. Idol's first LP, Rebel Yell (1984, 1984 in music) was a blockbuster success and established Idol's superstar status in the United States. After leaving the Broadway stage Jolson starred on radio, and his shows were always in the top ten of ratings. Idol moved to New York City and began working as a solo artist and began working with Steve Stevens, soon becoming MTV staples with "White Wedding" and "Dancing with Myself". "Jolie" as he was known to his friends in "The Show Business" was the first entertainer to sell one million records. Generation X signed to Chrysalis Records and released three albums before breaking up. His Broadway career is unmatched for length and popularity, having spanned close to 30 years (1911-1940).

During this period, Idol decided to become a musician and formed a band called Generation X in 1976 (see 1976 in music). He is best known, however, for his appearance in one of the first "talkies" The Jazz Singer, (the first film with sound to enjoy wide commercial success), in 1927 (See also blackface). Idol lived in Worthing before attending Sussex University for only a year before joining the Bromley Contingent of keen Sex Pistols fans. Jolson became a popular singer and a superstar of the Broadway stage, radio and film, becoming the first pop music star to crossover to the silver screen, a career move taken for granted among pop stars today. Billy Idol (born William Michael Albert Broad on November 30, 1955 in Middlesex, England) is a British-born hard rock musician. Asa Yoelson (May 26, 1886 - October 23, 1950), better known as Al Jolson, was an American immigrant son of a Russian Jew, and was born in Seredzius, Lithuania.