Born in England on 30 November 1955, William Michael Albert Broad came to the United States at age four, only to return to his land of birth in 1962, where he lived with his family above a pub called The Running Horses in Dorking, Surrey. A diehard fan of the Sex Pistols, he teamed up with another devotee of punk rock, bassist Tony James (who would go on to play in Sigue Sigue Sputnik.) The two joined the hardcore punk group Chelsea, and Idol made his first live appearance at a London gig in 1976.