Latest news with #punkrock
CBC
9 hours ago
- Entertainment
- CBC
Billy Idol should be dead— thankfully he's still alive to tell you his story
From packed punk shows at CBGB to global arena tours, Billy Idol has lived the life he always dreamed of. But with so many years of sex, drugs, and rock and roll, he admits it was also a life that was at risk of ending at any moment. "You can't do it forever, it'll destroy you," Idol says in an interview with Q 's Tom Power. "Eventually you kind of saw the light, but then it wasn't so easy coming to that decision.… A lot of other people didn't." Billy Idol's ninth solo album Dream Into It is a chronological journey that explores his lifetime through music. The songs were written in tandem with making his documentary Billy Idol Should Be Dead, which will come out later this year. WATCH | Billy Idol's full interview with Tom Power: "I'm 69 years old, so you really can see the landscape of your life," Idol explains. "Doing the documentary made it easy to sort of bounce off your whole life.… Maybe it's even having grandchildren too. Maybe you want to explain yourself a little bit. Maybe even to yourself." With childhood influences ranging from Miles Davis to Camelot the Musical to The Kinks, Idol has always been fascinated by different kinds of music. As a fan of many genres, he was thrilled to be part of the emergence of punk rock in the 70s. "The whole sort of expansion of music.… the blues being expanded into rock and roll, and even jazz fusion. We grew up with it all," Idol explains. "We ended up saying, 'Let's dumb this down,' and bring it back to some sort of primitive level with punk rock.… We went beyond being fans and we became people who actually started to move the glass around, so to speak, like a seance." WATCH | Official music visualizer for 77 feat. Avril Lavigne: Half of the songs on Dream Into It focus on Billy Idol's youth. One of them is 77 feat. Avril Lavigne, which paints a picture of punk street life in 1977. "The youth of that time was super feeling it. Like, 'This is it, this is our thing'," Idol remembers. "We were the audience and we were waiting for our own scene.… What was in the air, it was palpable and it was just so exciting. "And everybody writing their songs, The Clash coming up with their songs, [Sex] Pistols coming up with their songs, us.… It was one of the best times of my life." With the success of Dancing with Myself and Eyes Without a Face in the 80s, the parties got bigger, and Idol started losing control. Dream Into It has some tunes that acknowledge the lows of his on-the-edge lifestyle — Too Much Fun touches on his drug addiction, and People I Love talks about how he didn't spend enough time with his family. But ultimately, Billy Idol has no regrets about how everything went for him. You were right to make all the daft decisions you made, which at the time looked to other people like you're out of your mind. - Billy Idol "You really start to realize all the crazy stuff you've done over the years," Idol says. "You were right to make all the daft decisions you made, which at the time looked to other people like you're out of your mind. But it came true. I had a bit of a dream, and I made it come true." Like the lyric of his song White Wedding, "it's a nice day to start again" for Billy Idol. At this stage in his life, one of his greatest joys is seeing the world through his grandchildren's eyes. "They're so excited to be alive, and everything's a first time experience for them," says Idol. "They love you for who you are now. They don't know your backstory. And that's refreshing as well when you've been alive a long time."
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
British punk rockstar Colin Jerwood dies aged 63 after a short illness as his band pay tribute to 'our dear friend'
Colin Jerwood, the frontman of British punk rock band Conflict has died aged 63. The news was announced on the band's social media on Monday night, with a statement from his family reading: 'It is with a very heavy heart to announce Colin passed away after a short illness'. 'We know for his supporters that this is difficult news to hear.' The band added in the statement: 'As you can imagine we are struggling to find the words to describe how sad and upset we feel upon hearing of the loss of our band member and dear friend Colin.' 'We extend our deepest condolences to James, Georgia and the rest of Colin's family and friends.' The band also shared a link to an online memorial page where fans can donate to charity in Jerwood's memory. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new Showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. Colin Jerwood, the frontman of British punk rock band Conflict has died aged 63 (pictured in 2019) The news was announced on the band's social media on Monday night, with a statement from his family reading: 'It is with a very heavy heart to announce Colin passed away' 'We kindly request that you do not attend his funeral,' they told fans. 'His family will be reading through any comments on the memorial page, and your presence will be felt. 'We appreciate all your support for Colin and Conflict over the years.' Punk group Conflict was originally based in Eltham, South London after being formed by Jerwood in 1981 amid the punk boom in the UK. The band are well known for their stances on animal rights and anti-facism and were still performing live in recent years, with gigs planned for the coming days across Scotland and Manchester. The original lineup consisted of Colin, Francisco 'Paco' Carreno, John, Steve, Pauline, and Paul a.k.a. 'Nihilistic Nobody'. Former band drummer, Francisco "Paco" Carreno, died in 2015, aged 49. They released their debut EP on Crass Records in 1982, and would later form their own Mortarhate Records label. Grieving fans shared their memories of Jerwood on social media with one writing: 'RIP Colin Jerwood, singer of Conflict, my favorite punk band of all time.' Grieving fans shared their memories of Jerwood on social media with one writing: 'RIP Colin Jerwood, singer of Conflict, my favorite punk band of all time' Another wrote: 'Rest in power Colin Jerwood' Cherry Red Records wrote: 'We're sad to hear of the passing of Colin Jerwood, frontman of Conflict.' 'We worked with Colin for over 20 years on the Mortarhate label. He was a character – sharp, driven, and always pushing forward. Colin left a mark on punk music that won't be forgotten. We'll miss him.'
Telegraph
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Iggy Pop: 78 years old and still shirtless, still sensational
An upended coffin stood ominously stage left, as Iggy Pop (now 78), who notoriously cheated death with his hard-drugs habits well into middle age, slunk onstage and tore off his skimpy leather waistcoat to perform, as ever, topless. While his excellent younger band blasted forth a headlong TV Eye, a menacing grind that Iggy first created with his chaotic first band The Stooges in 1970, later to influence punk rockers of every stripe, the wrinkly-torso'd singer slipped his cordless microphone suggestively inside the waist of his black slacks. As he lolloped around up there, in what proved a terrific and explicitly life-affirming show, it was hard to forget his incorrigible antics as a performer over the years: as recently as the mid-2010s, Iggy, né James Newell Osterberg, was nightly defying doctor's orders by hurling himself repeatedly into the crowd, exacerbating his spinal scoliosis, and necessitating hip replacements. For six decades now, he has been reliably deranged in his commitment to performative shock and awe, a consistency, through all the craziness, that has made him one of rock's most enduring live attractions. Certainly, I'd place at least five or six Iggy shows in the Top Ten rock gigs I ever attended. But now that the stagediving has stopped and Stooges reunions are no longer possible, I did wonder beforehand how this incandescent stage presence can keep going deeper into his pensionable years. Inside Ally Pally's cavernous 10,000-capacity Great Hall, such doubts were quickly blown aside. As his two guitarists, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Nick Zinner, and Cuban-Argentinian femme-punk from Miami Ale Campos, joyfully clanged forth another iconic proto-punk riff, from 1973's Raw Power, brutally accented by a two-piece brass section, a pattern formed of Iggy's outright bangers ringing out in high-intensity performances, which plainly galvanised the man himself. Following a massed singalong of The Passenger's la-la-la chorus, he told the audience, 'F---ing bless you!', and his propulsive rhythm section then thumped forth the robust beat to Lust For Life, also from his mid-'70s Berlin period alongside David Bowie. Make no mistake, these were electrifying versions of Iggy's classics: in the here and now, at full pelt, with our diminutive hero by turns purring adorably like a benign monarch, and, on a feral, wailing-brass I Wanna Be Your Dog, yowling like a teenage delinquent. And just to remind us how lucky we all were to experience this, there was that coffin looming as a signifier of Iggy's survival after lifelong self-destruction. 'This is what it was like to be young in 1970', he announced before The Stooges' 1970, and as its heedless lyrics, 'Out of my mind on Saturday night/ I feel alright, I feel alright', resounded, it felt mighty good in 2025, too – the most fun this writer has had in many months. After two hours onstage, Iggy toyed with the coffin door, and finally, during his familiar cover of the early rock'n'roll standard Real Wild Child (Wild One), he hopped inside, snaking out an arm to wave comically. He then jumped out and, to huge applause, gestured that he wasn't ready to accept that fate any time soon.
New York Times
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
A Punk-Rock Past Comes With Unwanted Baggage for a N.Y. Politician
He's a former punk rocker who still looks the part. Bald, burly, with his rolled-up sleeves revealing elaborate tattoos, Justin Brannan hardly seems the prototype for public office. His hardcore-punk background has been a useful origin story in his political career, as he rose in the City Council to lead its powerful finance committee, and is now running for New York City comptroller. But it also left a public trail of interviews, offhand comments and online messages containing crass, insensitive and homophobic language that Mr. Brannan has, in recent years, apologized for using. Now, ahead of next month's Democratic primary for comptroller, a new trove of online messages has emerged from his past. The messages, most more than 20 years old, include a thread that cast the Columbine High School shooting in Littleton, Colo., on April 20, 1999 — which resulted in the deaths of 13 students and a teacher — as an opportunity to promote Indecision, his band at the time. On a Dejanews Usenet online forum in 1999, an account under Mr. Brannan's name posted that one of the high school students tied to the Columbine shooting had worn an Indecision T-shirt. The post cited a call with an unnamed news reporter. 'Yes!!! We're famous!' the account wrote, declaring that the shooting could help the band sell records, according to a publicly accessible version of the message board, now archived on Google Groups. Mr. Brannan, who has since pushed for tougher New York State gun laws, was in his early 20s at the time of the thread. Three days after the shooting, the account under Mr. Brannan's name directed others on the thread to circulate the rumor, which was later shown to be inaccurate. The account urged people to call WINS-AM radio in New York and NBC. 'Let them know you saw the Indecision T-shirt,' it said. Someone responded, 'Are you really this desperate to sell records?' 'Industry baby,' the account replied, indicating that the band had already seen a small boost in sales. The message was signed 'Justin Brannan.' Mr. Brannan, 46, said the messages did not reflect his 'record as a public servant.' 'I've fought hard and always led with love, empathy and respect,' said Mr. Brannan, who represents the Bay Ridge and Coney Island sections of Brooklyn. 'I said and did plenty of stupid stuff as a teenager that I regret now decades later as a man approaching 50,' Mr. Brannan said in a statement. 'I believe if we want real representation in government, we need to be willing to accept real people — not those who claim pristine pasts, but those who learn from their mistakes, grow and try to do better.' On the same day that the Brannan account asked followers to spread the T-shirt rumor, Mr. Brannan apparently had misgivings, according to contemporaneous emails that he provided through a campaign spokeswoman. In one email sent to a bandmate, Rachel Rosen, Mr. Brannan wrote that he felt 'horrible' that 'we were making jokes like idiots.' In another email from the same day, Mr. Brannan said the rumor about the T-shirt was 'sick,' adding, 'I don't think any of us realized how bad this shooting was,' according to a copy provided by the campaign. In an official statement, dated April 23, 1999, his band said that it was 'horrified to be briefly associated' with the shooting, and that it had 'always stood up against violence and hate.' The statement included contact information for Mr. Brannan, the band's spokesman at the time. Ms. Rosen, the Indecision bandmate who received Mr. Brannan's emails, said he had crafted the band's statement after returning from a tour, during which access to news had been limited, and realizing that the false rumor was taking off. In other unrelated threads now on Google Groups, the account under Mr. Brannan's name posted various messages that included insensitive or offensive language. In one instance, the account said 'Chinese people cannot drive.' Mr. Brannan's campaign noted that he had since spoken out against anti-Asian hate crimes during the pandemic, and that he sponsored a Council resolution last year calling on Congress to condemn anti-Asian sentiment. In past campaigns, voters have been willing to overlook Mr. Brannan's decades-old indiscretions. His interpersonal skills and unfussy persona have helped him on the trail and with Council colleagues. The bounds of acceptable discourse for politicians have also appeared to shift, especially since Donald J. Trump won his first presidential election despite a history of making embarrassing and vulgar comments. Mr. Brannan has some experience confronting his past use of insensitive language. During his failed bid to become City Council speaker four years ago, Mr. Brannan was questioned about a homophobic slur he had used in a 2006 interview, while he was a member of the hardcore punk band Most Precious Blood. He was also confronted with a 1999 letter to the editor he had written to a music magazine in which he defended a writer's use of a homophobic slur, arguing then that the word was a 'regular, accepted, tolerated slang word — for better or for worse,' The Daily News reported. Mr. Brannan apologized. 'It doesn't matter as the context or the intent, whether you are gay or straight, it is an offensive, indefensible and hurtful term,' he said at the time. 'I apologize for any harm I may have caused decades ago. I have always been an ally to the L.G.B.T.Q. community and I always will be.' The Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club, an influential progressive group in New York that advocates L.G.B.T.Q. rights, endorsed Mr. Brannan in a Council race after that apology. But in the Democratic primary for comptroller, it has endorsed Mark Levine, the Manhattan borough president. State Senator Kevin Parker, a moderate Brooklyn Democrat, is also running for comptroller. Kristen Pettit, a founding member of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, defended Mr. Brannan, whom she knows personally and praised for his work on gun safety. 'I think Justin's actions communicate loud and clear who he is in his adult life,' she said. 'He's focused on helping the people of the city, no matter who they are or when they got here. He is a man for others.'
Times
13-05-2025
- Business
- Times
Sex Pistols ask Dundee opticians to change its name
The Spex Pistols is no more. For more than a decade optician Richard Cook has been selling lenses and glasses out of a little shop off Dundee's West Port. He named his modest business after Britain's first big punk rock band, and even mimicked the group's distinctive font in his insists that nobody has ever confused his store for the real Sex Pistols. But that has not stopped the supposedly anarchic group from using the law to force him to come up with a new, less punky Sex Pistols have issued Spex Pistols with a cease and desist letter. 'We don't really have a choice,' Cook said, announcing a new name and look for his shop. 'We just don't make
