Watch: BILLY IDOL Honored With Star On Hollywood Walk Of Fame

Rock icon Billy Idol was honored with the 2,743rd star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame earlier today (Friday, January 6). The star, the first of the new year, was dedicated at 6201 Hollywood Boulevard in front of Amoeba Music. Idol, who was joined by emcee Lupita Sanchez Cornejo, artist Shepard Fairey and rocker Henry Rollins at the ceremony, was awarded his star in the category of Recording.

Video of the ceremony, courtesy of Variety, can be seen below.

An emotional Idol thanked his fans who gathered for the star unveiling.

"You are the best. Quite simply, I'm here today because of you, because of your love," he said. "You supported me all this time. Forty-seven years now I've been doing this."

He added: "It really is crazy to find myself getting an award like this, or being honored in this way. I mean, 47 years of doing this after I started in GENERATION X, and 35 years after coming here, I just really could never have imagined anything like this.

"Initially we did the music back in the mid-'70s during the punk-rock time. There wasn't much hope or anything. We decided if there's nothing, there's no future, we're going to do what we love. And that's what I did. I did the music because I loved it. It wasn't for any other reason, really. Anyway, I didn't really think doing this would last very long. We thought maybe six months, maybe a year, maybe two years. I could never have imagined something like this. It's just incredible."

The star is the 2,743rd since the completion of the Hollywood Walk Of Fame in 1961 with the initial 1,558 stars and the first to be unveiled in 2023.

The ceremony was originally scheduled for Thursday (January 5) but delayed by one day following a forecast of torrential rains.

Idol was an early architect of the sound, style, and fury of punk rock. His lip- curling sneer and fist-pumping persona vaulted him into the mainstream as one of MTV's first megastars, making him one of the most recognizable faces in pop music, He has sold 40 million albums while scoring numerous platinum albums worldwide, nine top forty singles in the U.S. and 10 in the U.K. including "Dancing With Myself", "White Wedding", "Rebel Yell", "Mony Mony", "Eyes Without A Face", "Flesh For Fantasy" and "Cradle Of Love". Billy was responsible for some of punk rock's most memorable, literate, and evocative moments and created a pioneering new sound by bringing the spirit of '77 to the dance floor, going on to fashion an immediately identifiable musical blueprint that integrates club-land throb, rockabilly desperation, and rock'n'roll decadence.

Forty-five years after releasing his first 45, Billy Idol still makes gliding, thumping, cinematic songs about sin, redemption and the love of rock 'n' roll… and that's what you will find on "The Roadside" and "The Cage", Idol's latest two four-song EPs released in 2021 and 2022, respectively. Both EPs will be instantly familiar to lovers of classic Idol, while announcing a firm step into the future full of color, power, atmosphere, attitude, and mystery. And on both new releases Billy is joined by his friend and collaborator since 1981, guitarist and songwriter Steve Stevens. For 41 years — 41 years! — Steve has been Billy Idol's sonic assassin and master blender of tones and textures, the thinking man's shredder and the shredding man's Picasso.

Idol, together with his band featuring Stevens, have consistently toured the world for the past two decades, headlining theatres and arenas and performing at major festivals all over the world.

Idol has always found time to support various causes in need, including Teenage Cancer Trust, Teen Cancer America, Goldberg Kids Fund, World Wildlife Funds, Rural Aid Australia, Animals Australia, March of Dimes, Autism Speaks and the Boston Children's Hospital.

The Hollywood Walk Of Fame is a celebration of art, entertainment, and all things Hollywood. Star ceremonies are broadcast worldwide, connecting fans with their favorite artists. The Hollywood Chamber Of Commerce administers the Walk Of Fame on behalf of the City Of Los Angeles. Honorees are selected by a committee of their peers. Sponsors fund the star, the ceremony and the maintenance of the legendary attraction. The Walk Of Fame is free to all.