WHAT I KNOW NOW

NO LONGER CRYING 'MORE, MORE, MORE' IN THE MIDNIGHT HOUR, THE '80S SUPERSTAR SURVIVED HIS DRUGFUELED HEYDAY AND IS ROCKING HIS ROLE AS DAD AND GRANDPA

- BRIANNE TRACY

When Billy Idol released his second album, Rebel Yell, three weeks before his 28th birthday in 1983, the career shift was seismic. "We went from clubs to theaters to arenas in one year," recalls the rocker, 68, who had already gained some steam from his time in the punk band Generation X between 1976 and 1981 and with his self-titled debut solo LP in 1982.

"It was incredible." During the Rebel Yell era, Idol's career skyrocketed, thanks to hits like "Eyes Without a Face" and the title track, as well as his music videos, which played on a loop on MTV. Offstage, Idol-born William Broad to parents Bill, an accountant, and Joan, a stay-at-home mom, in Middlesex, England-became just as well-known for his wild antics in the throes of his addiction to alcohol and drugs. (He once serenaded a crowd with an impromptu version of Rebel Yell's title track while standing naked on the window ledge of his hotel.) Four decades later, life looks a lot different for Idol, now a dad to three (Bonnie, 34, with ex Linda Mathis; Willem Wolf, 35, with ex Perri Lister; and Brant, 39, who he only recently discovered was his son) and a grandpa to four (Bonnie has daughters MaryJane Rebel and Poppy, while Brant has daughter McKenzie and son Mason). While chatting on the phone about the new deluxe expanded edition of Rebel Yell (out now), he's soft-spoken as he describes how a life-changing motorcycle accident in 1990 led him to his current drug-free lifestyle.