Billy Idol picks up Lifetime Achievement Award at AMAs and issues powerful message to young musicians
Phoebe Tonks
Featured Image Credit: Francis Specker/CBS via Getty Images
In a year that saw some of the most highly decorated nominees at the American Music Awards fail to show up, it was lifetime award winner Billy Idol that showed exactly why he was worthy of the coveted gong.
Idol, a British-born rocker who has been channelling punk-rock rebellion for more than 50 years, is just one of three people to ever be awarded a lifetime achievement award at the show, following in the footsteps of Diana Ross and Rod Stewart.
Yet while picking up the highly prestigious award was reason enough to be in attendance, Idol also made history by performing at the AMAs for the first time in his half-a-century spanning career, right alongside his recent Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction.
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Breathing life back into an otherwise lacklustre ceremony, Idol performed a medley of some of his most iconic hits, which include classics such as Eyes without a Face and Dancing with Myself.
While accepting his award, which was presented to him by Leon Thomas, who had reflected on his connection to the Black Rock Coalition, Idol kept his usual irreverent charm as he said: "Thank you, Leon. I remember the Black Rock Coalition. It really did a lot for a lot of people.
“”Thank you to the American Music Awards for this honor. And most importantly, thank you to all the fans. I've been able to live my dream and it's really all because of you.”
Idol continued, "When I started out in punk rock, back in 1976, we thought it may only last about 6 months, let alone 50 years. But we were doing it for the love and because music was the only thing that gave us a sort of feeling of freedom, a sense of freedom."
He recalled, "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's exactly what happened.”
It was then that Idol turned his attention to the next generation of rockers out there who, just like him, sought to break the mould. "So to any kid out there who loves rock and roll or any music of any kind as much as Leon and I do, and if you're 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 and roll, thank you to everyone," concluded Idol, before turning his attention to longtime collaborator Steve Stevans. "And now Steve, show them what a hit song sounds like, will you?”
It was then that he took to the stage to perform, sending the crowd wild and proving that even at the ripe old age of 70, the punk rocker still knew how to work a crowd.