Simon Cowell Idol franchise
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In 2001, Cowell was given the role of judge on the first series of Pop Idol, a show that he and the show creator Simon Fuller successfully pitched to ITV Controller of Entertainment Claudia Rosencrantz. Cowell's S Records signed the top two finishers of the first season of Pop Idol, Will Young and Gareth Gates, both of whom went on to have No 1 UK hits, which were the top 2 best-selling singles of 2002, as well as that of top 2 of the decade of 2000s. He also became a judge on the first season of American Idol in 2002. With his notoriously critical reputation, Cowell has been likened to TV personalities such as Judith Sheindlin, and Anne Robinson of her show. Cowell's prominence grew, fed by his signature phrase, "I don't mean to be rude, but ...", inevitably followed by an unsparingly blunt appraisal of the contestant's talents, personality, or even physical appearance. A lot of these one-liners were the product of coaching that Cowell received from noted publicist Max Clifford (who was sacked by Cowell after being convicted of sex offences as of May 2014). Cowell also appeared on the one-off World Idol programme in 2003, where it became clear that each country's version of the Idol had attempted to come up with its own "Simon Cowell" type personality. In 2003, Cowell placed No 33 on Channel 4's list of the all-time 100 Worst Britons.  Cowell formed a new company Syco, which is divided into three units - Syco Music, Syco TV and Syco Film. Cowell returned to music with his latest brainchild signed to Syco, the internationally successful operatic pop group Il Divo, consisting of three opera singers and one pop singer of four different nationalities. Inspired by the success of Il Divo, Simon created a child version, Angelis, beating competition from similar groups emerging at Christmas 2006.  On 11 January 2010, Cowell's exit from American Idol was made official. By the time Cowell left American Idol, the show was on its seventh consecutive season in its leadership among all primetime programmes in the United States, even lasting up to 2011 in the longest winning streak in the US overall viewership and demographics in the Nielsen ratings. The 2010 season was Cowell's last on the show. He was replaced by Steven Tyler. It was also announced that FOX had acquired the rights to The X Factor USA, an American version of Cowell's British show, The X Factor, which began in September 2011. CANNOTANSWER
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Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality, entrepreneur, and record executive. He has judged on the British television talent competition series Pop Idol (2001–2003), The X Factor UK (2004–2010, 2014–2018) and Britain's Got Talent (2007–present), and the American television talent competition series American Idol (2002–2010), The X Factor US (2011–2013), and America's Got Talent (2016–present). Cowell is the founder and sole owner of the British entertainment company Syco.

After some success in the 1980s and 1990s as a record producer, talent scout and consultant in the UK music industry, Cowell came to public prominence in 2001 as a judge on Pop Idol, a show which he and its creator Simon Fuller successfully pitched to ITV Controller of Entertainment Claudia Rosencrantz. He subsequently created The X Factor and Got Talent franchises which have been sold around the world. In 2004 and 2010, Time named Cowell one of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2008, The Daily Telegraph ranked him sixth in their list of the "100 most powerful people in British culture". The same year, he received the Special Recognition Award at the National Television Awards. At the 2010 British Academy Television Awards, Cowell received the BAFTA Special Award for his "outstanding contribution to the entertainment industry and for his development of new talent". In 2018, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the television category.

Cowell often makes blunt and controversial comments as a television music and talent show judge, including insults and wisecracks about contestants and their singing abilities. He combines activities in both the television and music industries. Cowell has produced and promoted successful singles and albums for various recording acts whom he has signed and taken under his wing, including Little Mix, James Arthur, Labrinth, Leona Lewis, Fifth Harmony, Il Divo, Olly Murs, Noah Cyrus, Cher Lloyd, Fleur East, and Susan Boyle. He has also signed successful boybands such as Westlife, One Direction, PrettyMuch, CNCO.

Early life
Simon Phillip Cowell was born on 7 October 1959 in Lambeth, London, and raised in Elstree, Hertfordshire. His mother, Julie Brett (née Josie Dalglish, 1925–2015), was a ballet dancer and socialite, and his father, Eric Selig Phillip Cowell (1918–1999), was an estate agent, property developer, and music industry executive. Cowell's father was from a mostly Jewish family (his own mother was born in Poland), though he did not discuss his ancestry with his children. Cowell's mother was from a Christian background. He has a younger brother, Nicholas Cowell; three half brothers, John, Tony, and Michael Cowell; and a half sister, June Cowell.

Cowell attended Radlett Preparatory School and the independent Dover College, as did his brother, but left after taking GCE O levels. He passed English Language and Literature and then attended Windsor Technical College, where he gained another GCE in Sociology. Cowell took a few menial jobs—including, according to his brother Tony, working as a runner on Stanley Kubrick's 1980 horror film The Shining—but did not get along well with colleagues and bosses, until his father, who was an executive at EMI Music Publishing, managed to get him a job in the mail room.  However, after failing to get a promotion, he left to try out other jobs before returning to EMI.

Career

Early career
In the early 1980s, Cowell left EMI to form E&S Music with his former boss at EMI but quit in 1983. He then formed Fanfare Records with Iain Burton, initially selling exercise videos, and music from acts such as the Italian orchestra Rondò Veneziano. He had his first hit song in 1986 with "So Macho" by Sinitta. Some of Cowell's early success came through Stock Aitken Waterman, who produced a number of hits in the 1980s. However, in 1989 the company went under and he nearly became bankrupt.
He then found a job with BMG as an A&R consultant and set up S Records under BMG. He restarted his career in the music business by creating novelty records with acts such as the puppets Zig and Zag, Power Rangers and World Wrestling Federation. In 1995, through his persistence, he persuaded two actors, Robson Green and Jerome Flynn from the UK television drama series Soldier Soldier, to sign with him and record the song "Unchained Melody", which they had performed on the show. The recording by the duo, now named Robson & Jerome, quickly reached number 1 in the UK, staying at the top of the chart for seven weeks. It became the best-selling single of 1995, and their self-titled album released later in the year also became the best-selling album of 1995. They released another album and two more singles before disbanding, and  sold 7 million albums and 5 million singles in total. According to Cowell, they made him his first million. Later acts he signed included Five, Westlife and Teletubbies.

Idol franchise

In 2001, Cowell was given the role of judge on the first series of Pop Idol, a show that he and the show creator Simon Fuller successfully pitched to ITV Controller of Entertainment Claudia Rosencrantz. Maggie Brown in The Guardian states, "the show became a seminal reality/entertainment format once on air that autumn". Cowell's S Records signed the top two finishers of the first season of Pop Idol, Will Young and Gareth Gates, both of whom went on to have No 1 UK hits, and they were the top 2 best-selling singles of 2002 and the decade of 2000s. He also became a judge on the first season of American Idol in 2002. With his notoriously critical reputation, Cowell has been likened to TV personalities such as Judge Judy and The Weakest Link host Anne Robinson. His closest predecessor was British TV critic Nina Myskow who, in the 1980s, became known for her harsh put-downs in New Faces, a talent show that Cowell cited as an influence. Cowell's prominence grew, fed by his signature phrase, "I don't mean to be rude, but ...", inevitably followed by an unsparingly blunt appraisal of the contestant's talents, personality, or even physical appearance. A lot of these one-liners were the product of coaching that Cowell received from publicist Max Clifford. Cowell also appeared on the one-off World Idol programme in 2003, in which it became clear that each country's version of the Idol had attempted to come up with its own "Simon Cowell" type personality.

Cowell formed a new company, Syco, in 2005. The company is divided into three units: Syco Music, Syco TV and Syco Film. Cowell returned to music with his latest brainchild signed to Syco, the internationally successful operatic pop group Il Divo, consisting of three opera singers and one pop singer of four different nationalities. Inspired by the success of Il Divo, Simon created a child version, Angelis, beating competition from similar groups emerging at Christmas 2006.

On 11 January 2010, Cowell's exit from American Idol was made official. By the time Cowell left American Idol, the show was on its seventh consecutive season in its leadership among all primetime programmes in the United States, even lasting up to 2011 in the longest winning streak in the US overall viewership and demographics in the Nielsen ratings. The 2010 season was Cowell's last on the show, and he was replaced by Steven Tyler. It was also announced that FOX had acquired the rights to The X Factor USA, an American version of British show The X Factor that launched in 2011.

The X Factor

In 2004, with Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh, Cowell was a judge on the first series of the British television music competition The X Factor, which he created using his production company, Syco TV. The X Factor was an instant success with the viewers and enjoyed its tenth series in 2013.

Leona Lewis, the winner of the third series of The X Factor, was signed to Cowell's label Syco and has had number one singles and album sales around the world. Cowell returned for a fourth series on 18 August 2007 alongside Osbourne, Walsh and new judge, Dannii Minogue. Walsh had previously been sacked from the judging panel by Cowell for the fourth series, and he was subsequently replaced by Brian Friedman, who was a judge on Grease Is the Word. Walsh was later brought back by Cowell a week into the auditions when he and Osbourne realised that they missed Walsh and that without him, there was no chemistry between the judges. Cowell returned for the fifth series in 2008, with Walsh, Minogue, and new judge Cheryl Cole, as Osbourne had decided to quit before the show began. Cowell returned for series 6 and 7 as well, although series 7 was to be his last, as he left in 2011 in order to launch The X Factor in America. After placing third in the seventh series of The X Factor in the UK, boyband One Direction signed to Cowell's label in 2011, and the group has gone on to top singles and album charts worldwide. Cowell was replaced by Gary Barlow. In 2011, UK series eight winners Little Mix signed to Cowell's label. The girl group has sold 50 million records worldwide.

Australian The X Factor launched in 2005 on Network Ten, and it featured Mark Holden, Kate Ceberano and John Reid as the show's judges, but it was cancelled after just one season due to poor ratings. However, the show returned in 2010 and performed strongly on the Seven Network until its eighth season in 2016, when its ratings declined. Subsequently, the show was axed for a second time in January 2017.

Cowell also launched American The X Factor in September 2011 on American broadcaster Fox. It was originally announced that he would be a judge both on the UK and US editions of the show, which aired at similar times of the year, but MTV officially reported on 17 April 2011 that this was not true. Cowell was no longer to be a judge on the UK version, but he would remain a major presence backstage. He was joined by Paula Abdul, L.A. Reid, Nicole Scherzinger and formerly Cheryl Cole. Cowell's act Melanie Amaro won the season, making Cowell the winning judge. Cowell and Reid returned for season 2, while Demi Lovato and Britney Spears joined the judging panel as replacements for Abdul and Scherzinger. This season launched another of Cowell's acts into worldwide fame, the group Fifth Harmony.

Cowell returned for a third season of The X Factor in September 2013 alongside Demi Lovato, while Britney Spears and L.A. Reid announced they would not be returning and were replaced by Paulina Rubio and Kelly Rowland. Cowell's last act Alex & Sierra won the season, marking Cowell's second season as the winning mentor after he won with Melanie Amaro in 2011.

In October 2010, Cowell signed new three-year deals with ITV for both Britain's Got Talent and The X Factor, retaining them until 2013. On 15 November 2013, the three-year deal was extended by another three years, keeping it on air until 2016.

In October 2013, it was reported that Cowell might return to the UK version of The X Factor for series 11 in place of Gary Barlow, and on 7 February 2014, his return was officially confirmed. This resulted in the cancellation of the US version after three seasons by Fox. He joined judges Louis Walsh, Cheryl Fernandez-Versini, who replaced Sharon Osbourne, and new judge, former Spice Girls member Mel B, who replaced Nicole Scherzinger. For his eighth series, he was given the Over 25s category. On 13 December, Ben Haenow and Fleur East reached the final two, which meant that Cowell was the winning mentor for the first time since series 3 2006, when he had both Leona Lewis and Ray Quinn in the final. Ben Haenow became the eleventh winner on 14 December. In 2015, Cowell returned to the X Factor for its twelfth series, along with veteran judge Cheryl Fernandez-Versini and newcomers Rita Ora and BBC Radio 1 DJ Nick Grimshaw.

In December 2020 it was announced that Cowell will be a judge on The X Factor Israel in 2021. In late May 2021, Cowell announced he will be cancelling his appearance on the show in context of the Israeli aggression against Gaza.

Got Talent

Following the success of the Idol and X Factor franchises, Cowell, his company Syco, and its business partners developed a talent show format open to performers of any kind, not only singers, but also dancers, instrumentalists, magicians, comedians, novelty acts, and so on. The origins of the Got Talent format can be traced to the British talent shows Opportunity Knocks (on screen from 1956, with the winner using the now-standard method of a telephone vote) and New Faces. Immensely popular with weekly audiences of 20 million, Opportunity Knocks showcased singers, dancers and comedians in addition to non standard performers such as acrobats, animal acts and novelty acts. Cowell states, "I was a fan of variety shows Opportunity Knocks and New Faces, and to be able to update that tradition, really was a buzz".

Cowell is the executive producer of America's Got Talent, which debuted in June 2006, along with Fremantle producers of the Idol series. The show was a huge success for NBC, drawing around 12 million viewers a week and beating So You Think You Can Dance on Fox (produced by rival and Idol creator Simon Fuller).

Britain's Got Talent debuted on ITV in June 2007. Cowell appeared as a judge alongside Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan. The show was a ratings success, and second and third seasons followed in 2008 and 2009. The third series featured a publicity coup when Susan Boyle made a global media impact comparable to that of any previous talent show series winner with her regional audition performance. In December 2019, Cowell signed a five-year deal with ITV ensuring Britain's Got Talent will stay on the channel until 2024.

In 2014, Got Talent was named the world's most successful reality TV format by Guinness World Records, with spin-offs in over 68 countries. Cowell stated, “I am very proud that Got Talent is a home grown British show. We owe its success to a group of very talented producers all over the world who have made this happen. And of course amazing talent.”

In 2015, Cowell launched La Banda, his first US show since his stint with American The X Factor. The show, designed to find male singers to form the "ultimate Latino Boy Band," launched on Univision in the US on 13 September 2015. The winner of the show, boy band CNCO, signed to Cowell's record label Syco Music.

Cowell was announced as the replacement for Howard Stern on America's Got Talent on 22 October 2015. On 15 July 2020, it was announced that Cowell had bought out Sony Music from their joint venture, Syco Entertainment.

Other talent shows
On 16 March 2006, American Inventor debuted on ABC. Cowell co-produced the show with British entrepreneur Peter Jones, who had devised the concept. Fledgling entrepreneurs from across the United States competed to see who could come up with the best new product concept. The 2006 winner, Janusz Liberkowski, received $1 million and the opportunity to develop his idea into a business. The show returned one more time in 2007 for a second season.

In 2006, Cowell executive-produced Celebrity Duets, which was described as "an Idol show for Hollywood superstars." The show was hosted by Wayne Brady, and its judges were Marie Osmond, Little Richard, and David Foster.

Cowell was also the executive producer of Grease Is the Word for ITV. This show set out to find performers to play Danny and Sandy in the 2007 West End revival of Grease. It was hosted by Zoë Ball and judged by Britons David Ian and Sinitta and Americans David Gest and Brian Friedman. The musical theatre casting concept had already been introduced by the BBC with the ratings hit How Do You Solve a Problem like Maria?, but Cowell's show was not the hoped-for success. He himself said, "It has been slaughtered by the critics – and rightly so. It is far too similar to our other formats."

Cowell collaborated with UK production company Shed Media to produce 2008 ITV drama series Rock Rivals, which is based on an X Factor type show. In 2011, Cowell also created his first game show, titled Red or Black? and hosted by Ant & Dec, for ITV. Series 1 was broadcast from 3 to 10 September. The show was recommissioned by ITV for a second series in 2012, which aired weekly.

In 2013, Cowell, in partnership with YouTube, launched a video-sharing competition called The You Generation. In 2013, Simon was executive producer for ITV cookery series Food Glorious Food, which was hosted by Carol Vorderman. He did the same for a game show called Keep it in the Family, presented by Bradley Walsh in 2016.

In 2018, it was announced that Cowell created his first show to air on the BBC, titled The Greatest Dancer, which debuted on 5 January 2019. In the show, dancers competed for a £50,000 and a performance on the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing. A second series is scheduled to air in 2020.

In April 2020, Cowell judged a spin-off version of the former show Canada's Got Talent called Canadian Family's Got Talent, carried out virtually by Canadian broadcaster Citytv during the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada.

In the media

Cowell has been involved in charity work for many years. He is a patron of Together for Short Lives, the leading UK charity for all children with life-threatening and life-limiting conditions. He was patron of Children's Hospices UK between 2009 and 2011 before it merged to become Together for Short Lives. He donated money to Manchester Dogs' Home in England after it was hit by a large fire. In view of his charitable works, particularly the production of the charity single "Everybody Hurts" in aid of victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, as well as his services to the music industry, there was considerable media speculation as to whether Cowell would receive a knighthood in the Queen's 2010 Birthday Honours, a proposal allegedly put forward by then Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

In November 2003, Cowell appeared on the charity telethon Children in Need where viewers pledged thousands to see him get sawn in half. In December 2003, Cowell published his autobiography titled I Don't Mean to be Rude, but.... In it, he told the whole story of his childhood, his years working in music and experiences on Pop Idol, Pop Stars Rivals, and American Idol, and finally, his tips for being successful as a pop star. In 2010, he was added as a new entry to the latest edition of the UK's Who's Who.

Cowell has appeared as a guest voice in an episode of The Simpsons ("Smart and Smarter"), in which he gets beaten up by Homer Simpson (while criticising Homer's punches). In May 2010, he portrayed himself again in an episode of The Simpsons, "Judge Me Tender". His voice was heard on an episode of Family Guy ("Lois Kills Stewie"), in which he told Stewie that his singing was so awful that he should be dead. He made an MTV Movie Award-winning cameo appearance as himself in Scary Movie 3, where he sits in judgment during a battle rap (and is subsequently killed by gunfire for criticising the rappers). He appears in the DVD version of Shrek 2 as himself in Far Far Away Idol and also provided the voice.

Cowell was once the fastest "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" on BBC's motoring show Top Gear, driving a Suzuki Liana around the show's test track in a time of 1:47.1. When Top Gear retired the Liana along with its rankings after the eighth series, Cowell was the eighth fastest overall and the third fastest non-professional driver. On 11 November 2007 Cowell yet again appeared on Top Gear, achieving a time of 1:45.9 thus putting him ahead of chef Gordon Ramsay and back at the top of the table. His time of 1:45.9 was then tied with English rock singer Brian Johnson of AC/DC and Grand Designs host Kevin McCloud for the second fastest time, just 0.1 seconds behind Jamiroquai singer Jay Kay. In March 2015, Cowell backed Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson after he was suspended by the BBC for punching a colleague, with Cowell stating on Good Morning Britain: "He's apologised. But I think what is quite obvious is that the public are behind him, but you know, that's Jeremy."

He appeared on an episode of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (the original British version) and Saturday Night Live in 2004. Cowell has also guest-starred (filling in for Regis Philbin) in the popular talk show Live with Regis and Kelly during American Idol'''s finalist week in early 2006. Cowell introduced entertainer Dick Clark at the 2006 Primetime Emmy Awards. He was seen on the British charity telethon Comic Relief, appearing on Comic Relief Does The Apprentice where he donated £25,000 for a fun fair ticket.  Cowell has also appeared on the MTV shows Cribs and Punk'd. On Punk'd, Ryan Seacrest and Randy Jackson set him up to believe his $400,000 Rolls Royce was stolen and had caused an accident by using a nearly identical car.

Cowell was a partner in the Royal Ascot Racing Club, a thoroughbred horse racing syndicate which owned the 2005 Epsom Derby winner, Motivator. Cowell was chosen as the first subject of the re-launched This Is Your Life, in an episode broadcast on 2 June 2007. He was presented with the Red Book by Sir Trevor McDonald while presenting American Idol.

On 1 July 2007, Cowell appeared as a speaker at the Concert for Diana (alongside Randy Jackson and Ryan Seacrest) held at Wembley Stadium, London, to celebrate the life of Princess Diana almost 10 years after her death. Proceeds from the concert went to Diana's charities as well as to charities of which her sons Princes William and Harry are patrons.Diana concert a 'perfect tribute' BBC News. Retrieved 12 April 2012

At the 2012 Pride of Britain Awards on 30 October, Cowell, along with Michael Caine, Elton John, Richard Branson and Stephen Fry, recited Rudyard Kipling's poem "If—" in tribute to the 2012 British Olympic and Paralympics athletes. In October 2013 Cowell took part in a fundraising event in Los Angeles in support of the Israeli Defense Forces. The event raised $20 million and Cowell made a personal donation of $150,000.

To raise money for the families of the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire in London in June 2017 and for The London Community Foundation, Cowell arranged the recording and release of a charity single "Bridge over Troubled Water". Cowell collaborated with a number of vocalists for the single, including Robbie Williams, Dua Lipa, Roger Daltrey and Rita Ora, and the song reached number one in the UK Singles Chart.

Recognition
In 2004 and 2010, Time magazine named Cowell one of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2008 he received the Special Recognition Award (presented to him by Andrew Lloyd Webber) at the National Television Awards held at the Royal Albert Hall. New Statesman listed Cowell at number 41 in a list of "50 People who Matter [in] 2010". TV Guide named him at number 10 in their 2013 list of The 60 Nastiest Villains of All Time.

In 2012, Cowell was featured in the BBC Radio 4 series The New Elizabethans to mark the diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. A panel of seven academics, journalists and historians named Cowell among the group of people in the UK "whose actions during the reign of Elizabeth II have had a significant impact on lives in these islands and given the age its character". Cowell was announced to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on 22 August 2018, in the Television category.

Personal life
Cowell dated English presenter Terri Seymour from 2002 to 2008. Cowell was engaged to make-up artist Mezhgan Hussainy from 2010 to 2011. In 2013, Cowell allegedly began dating an American woman named Lauren Silverman. In July 2013, Silverman's husband and Cowell's friend, Andrew Silverman, filed for an at-fault divorce, citing adultery by his wife and naming Cowell as a co-respondent. News of the divorce filing became public two weeks later, when it was widely reported that Silverman and Cowell were expecting a baby together. Cowell said, "There are a lot of things I will eventually clear up when the time is right, but I really have to be sensitive because there's a lot of people's feelings involved here." The Silvermans released separate statements expressing concern for the well-being of their son during the divorce process. In August 2013, the Silvermans settled their divorce out of court, enabling Cowell to avoid being called as a witness in the divorce proceedings. He subsequently confirmed that Silverman was pregnant with his child, and she gave birth to their son, Eric, on 14 February 2014. The couple confirmed their engagement in January 2022.

In 2010, Cowell came out in support for then Conservative Party leader David Cameron for Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, writing in The Sun: "I believe he is the Prime Minister Britain needs at this time. He has substance and the stomach to navigate us through difficult times." In 2013, Cowell contravened his previous statement about David Cameron. According to the interview while he has supported candidates, he has never voted in an election. An opponent of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union (Brexit), Cowell came out in support of Remain in the 2016 EU referendum.

In 2019, Cowell became a vegan after doctors advised him to change his diet for health reasons. He was also named one of the wealthiest people in the UK by the Sunday Times Rich List, Cowell was worth £385 million in 2019.

In 2020, Cowell announced he would be writing a seven-book series titled Wishfits'' with his son. The first three volumes are to be released in 2021, with the remaining four the next year. On 8 August 2020, Cowell broke his back after he fell off his new electric motorcycle which many press sources confused with an electric bike. The incident occurred while he was testing it at his home in Malibu, California. Cowell was taken to the hospital, where he underwent back surgery overnight. After the accident, he began eating animal-based food again in order to "rebuild his strength". In February 2022, it was revealed Cowell tested positive for COVID-19.

References

External links

 
 

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Cyberpunk is the fifth studio album by English rock musician Billy Idol, released on 29 June 1993 by Chrysalis Records. A concept album, it was inspired by his personal interest in technology and his first attempts to use computers in the creation of his music. Idol based the album on the cyberdelic subculture of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Heavily experimental in its style, the album was an attempt to take control of the creative process in the production of his albums, while simultaneously introducing Idol's fans and other musicians to the opportunities presented by digital media.

The album featured a cyberpunk-styled narrative, as well as synthesised vocals and industrial influences. Despite its critical and commercial failure, Billy Idol set several precedents in the process of promoting the album. These included his use of the Internet, e-mail, virtual communities, and multimedia software, each a first for a mainstream celebrity. Idol also based his fashion style, music videos, and stage shows on cyberpunk themes and aesthetics.

Released to negative reviews, Cyberpunk polarised internet communities of the time, with detractors viewing it as an act of cooptation and opportunistic commercialisation. It was also seen as part of a process that saw the overuse of the term "cyberpunk" until it lost its original meaning. Alternatively, supporters saw Idol's efforts as harmless and well-intentioned, and were encouraged by his new interest in cyberculture.

Background
During the release of 1990s Charmed Life, Idol suffered a broken leg in a motorcycle accident. While in recovery, he was interviewed by Legs McNeil. McNeil noticed the electronic muscle stimulator on Idol's leg and referred to him as a "cyberpunk", citing the cyborg qualities of his appearance. This led to Idol taking a serious interest in the works of William Gibson for the first time, although he had read Neuromancer in the mid-'80s. In the following months, Idol continued to investigate cyberpunk fiction and technology. He also read Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash, works by Robert Anton Wilson, and others.

At approximately the same time, he began to work with Trevor Rabin to create his music, having parted ways with his former producer, Keith Forsey. Rabin introduced Idol to his home studio, which was centralised around Rabin's Macintosh computer and music software. The ability to personally produce music from his home, rather than at a professional studio, appealed to Idol's "do it yourself" ethic. He felt that working through a team of producers and sound engineers cut into his personal vision for previous albums, and was interested in being more directly in control of his future work. Idol asked his producer, Robin Hancock, to educate himself and his guitarist, Mark Younger-Smith, on the use of software for musical production.

With his increasing exposure to technology and science fiction, Idol decided to base his upcoming album on the cyberpunk genre, and quickly set about educating himself in Cyberdelic counter culture. Idol saw the convergence of affordable technology with the music industry and anticipated its impact on a new era for DIY punk music. "It's 1993," Idol said during a New York Times interview. "I better wake up and be part of it. I'm sitting there, a 1977 punk watching Courtney Love talk about punk, watching Nirvana talk about punk, and this is my reply."

Reading Mondo 2000 and Gareth Branwyn's 1992 manifesto, "Is There a Cyberpunk Movement?", Idol resolved to base an opening sequence on Branwyn's essay, contacting the writer for permission. He also read Branwyn's Beyond Cyberpunk! HyperCard stack, a collection of essays based on fanzines, political tracts, conspiracy theories, and which referred to itself as "a do-it-yourself guide to the future." Idol proceeded to consult with various writers familiar with the computer related magazines, such as Mondo 2000, and Boing Boing. Idol also hosted a "cyber-meeting" attended by the likes of Timothy Leary, famed counterculture guru; Jaime Levy, author of books published on disks under the "Electronic Hollywood" imprint; R. U. Sirius, co-founder of Mondo 2000; and Brett Leonard, director of The Lawnmower Man.

Asked by Idol about how he could become further involved in cyberculture, Branwyn and Mark Frauenfelder advised him to investigate The WELL, one of the oldest online communities. Idol did so, discussing the album project online with WELL users, and creating a personal e-mail account which he released on printed advertisements for the upcoming album, so that fans could communicate with him. Idol also made occasional postings to alt.cyberpunk, a Usenet newsgroup. Later in an interview for MTV News promoting the album, Idol expressed excitement over the medium. "This means I can be in touch with millions of people, but on my own terms."

Recording

Cyberpunk was created in Idol's home studio in Los Angeles, centred around his Macintosh computer and accompanying software. Programs used in the production included Studio Vision, by Opcode Systems, and Pro Tools, by Digidesign. Idol later recalled that the beginning of the recording sessions coincided with the onset of the 1992 Los Angeles riots. "We'd just installed the computer in my music room, and there was a window above it overlooking the whole city. And there was a fire raging. There was smoke just pouring across the whole of LA. It was LA burning. And so I just straight quickly wrote the lyrics and sang them three times. What you're hearing on the single 'Shock to the System' is my news reportage of what I'm seeing." Idol recalled for a German broadcast. "We started the album with a riot. So that's really rock and roll."

Excited by the DIY aspects of the production process, Idol took only ten months to record the album, which he often contrasted with the combined period of eight years it took to create his two previous albums. Working with his computer over time also gave him the sense that the computer was itself an instrument, and that the performer's style was also presented by the technology. Its versatility also allowed him to switch roles with Mark Younger-Smith and Robin Hancock, allowing each to experiment with their different talents and blurring the lines of their specialised roles, leading Idol to repeatedly compare the production process to that of being in a garage band. Keyboards were also used to drive much of the music through the album. Together, the trio comprised what Idol considered to be the "core" production group, although a number of artists contributed to a various tracks. In particular, he credited his drummer Tal Bergman and bassist Doug Wimbish for their contributions to numerous tracks. Wimbish had recorded his work from a studio in New York City, and sent it to Los Angeles for use in the production.

Themes
Cyberpunk was a departure from Idol's previous style of pop-rock music. Several spoken or sound-effect segues were placed between the album tracks to create a linear narrative. The effect of these segues caused the album to become a concept album. Karen Schoemer, of the New York Times, commented that "[w]ith its booming techno beats, screeching guitar riffs, sampled computer voices and songs like 'Power Junkie' ('I feel tonight we're bought and sold/Ah yeah, I think I'll overload'), the album functions as Mr. Idol's interpretation of cyber culture."

When asked why he was pursuing such a shift in his musical style by adopting electronic music, Idol responded that he had attempted to incorporate technology in his older work, but found the equipment of the late '70s and early '80s too limiting and gave up. With the computers of the '90s, Idol finally felt that the technology was able to quickly and easily make changes as he saw fit. Idol came to expound on his belief in their future importance for the music industry, and quoting Gareth Branwyn, referred to the computer as "the new cool tool".

However, he rejected the idea of referring to the music as "computerized", on the grounds that nothing was done for the album that couldn't have been done with standard recording equipment, and that the computer had simply sped up and simplified the creative process. Placing emphasis on the contribution of the performers over the computer tools they used, Idol felt the album achieved a "garage band" spirit, that had captured the "Sturm und Drang" he found in rock and roll, and had simply modified it digitally. Idol thus felt that the album could be best identified as a rock album, rather than a techno album. Idol later agreed with an interviewer who commented that the album's digital production and themes were ahead of their time.

Technology

Idol was keen to share his ideas regarding the future of Cyberculture and its impact on the music industry, and was noted for his enthusiastic speculation in the future of computers throughout the promotion of the album. "You're using very sort of extreme and raw ideas, but with very high level technology... it's probably whats going to be happeningor in fact, it is what is happening nowbecause that's how we made this album, Cyberpunk." Some of the predictions Idol made for the future of the internet, computers, and musicians, was that it would allow for cheap and efficient recording from home; that musicians could record their music and send it to producers and fellow band members from great distances, perhaps while on tour; and that musicians would be able to directly communicate with their fans and critics. Idol also hoped that the rapid ability to do whatever he desired with the production would allow raw forms of rock music to remain relevant after the Grunge movement swept America in the early 90s. "[The computer] can do anything... If you want the music backwards, it can be backwards in a snap. This is in a way my sort of answer to grunge. I know there's a way of using this modern technology to bring a lot of rawness back."

Fashion
On 24 September 1992, Billy Idol took part in a benefit fashion show by Jean-Paul Gaultier. The event, entitled the "Jean Paul Gaultier in L.A.", was a fashion benefit for amfAR AIDS research, at the Shrine Auditorium. Idol modelled a leather jacket and pants, covered in black sunglasses, to the yet-unreleased song "Neuromancer". This coincided with Idol's decision to change his fashion style to match the cyberpunk aesthetic of the album. Idol changed his hair to dreadlocks, and wore sleek, futuristic clothing by New York fashion designer Stephen Sprouse. In a photo shoot published in Details July 1993 issue, highlighting Billy Idol's new "cyberpunk" aesthetic, Idol modelled in a distressed-velvet jacket and matching trousers designed by Paul Smith. In the background, Idol stood amongst computers and chaotically strewn cables representing his home studio. Idol wore the same suit during the "Shock to The System" music video and the 1993 Billboard Music Award presentation spot.

Special edition software

During his initial research into cyberculture, Idol ordered Beyond Cyberpunk! from Gareth Branwyn. The HyperCard stack, which included collections of essays on cyberpunk culture, inspired Idol to include similar material within the Cyberpunk album as a special edition digipak feature. Discussing the matter with Branwyn, Idol received an initial bid for the job of producing the disk from the writer. While this bid was under consideration by Idol's management company, Idol had purchased a book-on-disk by Jaime Levy at a Los Angeles bookstore. At the time, Levy was the author and publisher of Electronic Hollywood, one of the first magazines produced on floppy disk. Impressed by its contents, Idol set about contacting her for the job of producing the disk. Successfully under-bidding Branwyn, she was then given the job and a master tape of recorded songs – which were not yet compiled into CD format – for use in sampling. Levy was given permission to include whatever content she desired. Meeting Idol to find what he was interested in presenting in the disk, his only concern was that the whole cyberpunk genre be represented as much as possible.

The special edition diskette, a Macintosh press kit entitled "Billy Idol's Cyberpunk", was an industry first. It included album clip art, sample sound bytes, a biography by Mark Frauenfelder, lyrics, and a cyberculture bibliography by Gareth Branwyn. Frauenfelder appeared on a segment of MTV News to describe the diskette's features. Plans were considered by EMI/Chrysalis to re-release the album in the following fall with an updated CD-ROM if the album was successful. As CD-ROMs were prohibitively expensive at the time of production, this was anticipated as a potential benchmark event for the music industry. However, this failed to materialise due to the critical and financial failure of the album.

Computer graphic design

After reading the work of Mark Frauenfelder on Boing Boing, Idol hired him to use graphics software in the design of artwork associated with the album. This included its use for the album and singles' cover art, the Billy Idol's Cyberpunk floppy disk, and in the press pack released to the media.

Frauenfelder worked with Adobe Photoshop, while Idol was present for the design process to provide suggestions. The album cover itself was the first image created, following the initial five minutes of editing on Idol's personal computer at the singer's home.

"Blendo" cinematography
Inspired by The Lawnmower Man, Idol conceived of using "Blendo" imagery throughout the promotion of the album. Six music videos were produced with the use of what Idol dubbed "Blendo" cinematography, five for "Heroin" and a final one for "Shock to the System".

1993 No Religion Tour
To promote the release of Cyberpunk, Idol began the 1993 No Religion Tour. The title of the tour came from a lyric in the album's first track, "Wasteland", which described a man travelling through a dystopia. In keeping with the album's theme, the performance stages were set to a computerised, high-tech aesthetic. Idol wished to use Blendo imagery on massive television screens behind the stage to rapidly shift in time with the music. Some of the video and photography was shot by Idol and Brett Leonard, including photos of Idol during acupuncture, himself at a spa, various LA landscapes, and imagery which referenced heroin use. An engineer on stage, whom Idol fashioned as another band member, would be charged with altering the images in rhythm with the music, as though it were also an instrument. Multiple engineers with video equipment would also roam the audience, beaming images of the crowd onto the screen as well, creating an interactive show. The tour took place in Europe, performing a total of 19 shows in 18 cities across 11 countries. It began on 18 August 1993 in Berlin, and concluded on 20 September 1993 in London.

Idol hoped to advance the way stagecraft and lighting were used at rock concerts. "Part of the idea is to create an element of visible language," Idol explained during an interview with the New York Times, "so that you feel as if you're being talked to through images. I think you have to start looking to get to the future of what rock-and-roll concerts should be like. We're working; we're pushing the technology to the edge."

Music videos
Three of four Cyberpunk singles were promoted by music videos: "Heroin", "Shock to the System", and "Adam in Chains". The fourth single, "Wasteland", did not receive a music video.

The first single, "Heroin", was accompanied with the most music videos, with a total of five for several different remixed versions of the cover. Each was a "Blendo" video which rapidly shifted random imagery and colours in time with the music. Four of the music videos for the song were directed by Brett Leonard, with a fifth being credited to Howard Deutch. Each used stock footage shot by Idol and Leonard, filmed personally and edited on Idol's computer. Idol did so with the intention of sending a "do-it-yourself" message that mocked and rejected the standards of MTV music video creation. "We did it all on camcorder and we sort of wanted to say you can make your own videos, and you don't always have to do it in a very MTV way." None were released for rotation on television; instead, one was included in the video album release, Cyberpunk: Shock to the System.

A "blendo" video was also produced for "Shock to the System", being included in the Cyberpunk: Shock to the System VHS cassette.

The second single, "Shock to the System", which was inspired by the Los Angeles riots of 1992, received the first music video put into MTV rotation. As Idol explained for MTV News, he had originally created the song with an entirely different set of lyrics, but upon witnessing the riots on television he immediately rewrote and recorded them that day. Idol explained that he was trying to capture the political and economic conflict that had created the LA Riots. Idol further felt that the camcorder – as displayed in the witnessing of the Rodney King beating – was a "potent way of conveying ideas" and an important metaphor for technology used in rebellion.

The music video was set in a dystopian future controlled by Cyber-cops (referred to as such by director Brett Leonard.) It depicted an individual who records the Cyber-cops beating a man, only to be noticed and attacked himself. His camera is destroyed and the Cyber-cops leave him unconscious on the ground, as they are busy trying to put down a riot elsewhere in the city. Alone, his camera equipment lands on him and is absorbed into his body, causing him to dramatically morph into a cyborg. The cyborg then joins the riot, leading the rebels to victory.

The make-up effects were achieved through stop motion, with Billy Idol moving in slow stages during points of the filming, allowing the make up effects to gradually cover more of his body to create the illusion of metamorphosis. Stan Winston, who had previously worked on the Terminator series and Jurassic Park, supervised and created the special effects for the video. The music video for "Shock to the System" was nominated for "Best Special Effects in a Video" and "Best Editing in a Video" at the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards, losing both times to Peter Gabriel's video for "Steam".

The final music video, "Adam in Chains", was directed by Julien Temple. It depicted Billy Idol being bound into a chair as he is monitored by scientists. He struggles before being hypnotised, and is then inserted into a virtual reality simulator. There he is treated to an ethereal water fantasy. Idol eventually rejects the fantasy, which is consumed in flames as, in the real world, his body violently convulses. The scientists end the experiment and Idol is brought back into reality, only to fall unconscious.

Cyberpunk: Shock to the System

A supplementary VHS cassette was also produced to promote the album. Cyberpunk: Shock to the System included a director's cut version of the "Shock to the System" music video; Shockumentary, a mini-documentary on the making of the aforementioned video; and two music videos which made use of Blendo images, one for "Heroin"  and "Shock to the System". The production was directed by Brett Leonard, having already directed the "Shock to the System" music video. Its cover art featured images of the cyborg freedom fighter played by Billy Idol in the "Shock to the System" music video, and included taglines that suggested a story of a dystopian world of high technology and rebellion.

Release
A press pack was distributed to the media prior to its release to promote the album. The centerpiece of the pack was a copy of the Billy Idol's Cyberpunk custom stickered 3½" floppy disk, which was housed in a custom multi-coloured folder with artist and title logo on the front and contact information on the back. The pack included a 5-page version of the biography in the diskette, for the benefit of any journalist who lacked the equipment to operate the floppy disk. Also included in the pack were three black-and-white publicity photographs. Two pictures of Idol were taken by Peter Gravelle and the other was a digitally edited image of Idol as he appeared in the blendo video, "Heroin".

As part of press junkets promoting the album, Idol reportedly insisted attending journalists be familiar with cyberpunk fiction. It was also revealed that Idol was not entirely as familiar with the genre as he had proclaimed. William Gibson reported in an interview, "A London journalist told me when Billy did his 'Cyberpunk' press junket over there, he made it a condition of getting an interview with him, that every journalist had to have read Neuromancer...Anyway, they all did but when they met with Billy, the first thing that became really apparent was that Billy hadn't read it. So they called him on it, and he said he didn't need to..he just absorbed it through a kinda osmosis."

Upon release, the album did not fare well, failing to make the top 20 in either the UK or United States. Instead, the album debuted at No. 48 on the Billboard 200 on 17 July 1993, and quickly plummeted to No. 192 in seven weeks before falling off the chart completely. The album saw slightly better chart placings in Europe, where it peaked at No. 5 in Austria, and No. 15 in Switzerland.

The first two singles fared slightly better. "Heroin", a cover of The Velvet Underground's "Heroin", peaked at No. 16 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart. "Shock to the System" peaked at No. 7 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, No. 23 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart, and No. 5 on Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart. The last two singles, "Adam in Chains" and "Wasteland", both failed to achieve any chart ratings within the United States, but did in other countries.

Critical reception

Cyberpunk was mostly received negatively by critics, with some stating that the album was pretentious and meandering. They said Idol sounded like a man desperate to keep up with current trends. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic considered the album a failed attempt by Idol to recast himself for the '90s, and judged the content of the album as being mostly "padded with pretentious speeches, sampled dialog, and underdeveloped songs". He also referred to the cover of "Heroin" as "one of the worst covers ever recorded".

Taking note of Idol's assertion that he had attempted to use technology in creating his early music, Ira Robbins of Newsday was sceptical. "[It] is hardly obvious in his work." Though if his early work had been mild attempts to use technology, Cyberpunk itself, Robbins wrote, was "the sound of science gone too far". The ideology of futurism Idol adopted was panned by Robbins, while the music itself was hardly different from his previous work. "For the most part, other than keyboards that add a pervasive nod to the jittering beat of techno-rave music, Cyberpunk sounds pretty much like every other Idol album."

Manuel Esparza of The Daily Cougar wrote a more mixed review, praising some elements, such as the track "Shangrila", the use of sound space echo effects, and Idol's talent as a singer. However, Esparza felt that Idol attempted the same techniques across too many songs, and referred to the lyrics as "[just barely making] more sense than a monkey pounding away on a typewriter". The "Billy Idol" entry on TrouserPress.com skewered Cyberpunk as a "third-rate self-parody... that trusses him up in sci-fi lingo and futurist mumbo jumbo."

Entertainment Weekly presented a favourable review of the album, giving it a "B+" rating and stating, "...this is old-fashioned glam-pop—as dumb, and occasionally glorious, as it gets." Two months later, Weekly included Idol on a list of "surprise losers", following the album's ranking of No. 48 on the Billboard charts.

Cyberculture reception

Prior to the album's release, Idol was asked if he feared his new interest in technology would be seen as an attempt to co-opt cyberculture. Idol denied this, stating that his belief in the relevancy of cyberpunk culture was genuine, and that he didn't care what others thought of him. However, the reaction by the majority of the online community was openly hostile and suspicious of Idol's motives. It was reported that his e-mail account on the WELL received mail from angry computer users, and was occasionally flooded with e-mail spam to antagonise him. Idol was also cast by many as a naive, tech-illiterate poseur. The charge of illiteracy was not entirely false, as at the time of the album's release, Idol was still typing using the "hunt and peck" system, and needed notes to log onto the internet.

In defending himself from what he believed was the elitism of his online critics, Idol admitted that he was still learning about computers, but compared it to the early punk ethic of simply trying your best as a musician, even if you had difficulty. He also pointed out that William Gibson was computer illiterate when he wrote Neuromancer. "I don't know much about computers, but I have the desire to learn and I have a computer and a modem, so I go for it. Banging my head sometimes, but continuing on."

Idol was also criticised for his use of the term "cyberpunk" for his album title, as detractors alleged that he had no claim to a title which belonged to the entire movement. Idol responded that he was not approaching the movement with a sense of entitlement. "I ain't no rock star. I'm an eager student," Idol wrote on a post to the WELL. Regarding his use of the "cyberpunk" moniker, Idol refuted claims that he had ever called himself one, and instead used the name as an ode to the subculture. "I was revved up by the DIY energy of Gibson and the high-tech underground."

Gareth Branwyn, who was among the initial tech-experts Idol consulted, defended Idol's interest in cyberpunk. "Billy is genuinely interested in and excited by cyberculture, and like all the rest of us, wants to factor that interest into his work, which happens to be pop music. Whether presenting cyberculture in that forum is ultimately a good thing or not is beside the point of Billy's right to bring it to that forum. After all, access to information should be free and total, right? Or at least that's how the mythology goes." An update to Branwyn's Beyond Cyberpunk! hyper-card stack included a new introduction, which referred to the Cyberpunk controversy, frankly stating "The release of Billy Idol's album Cyberpunk was met with a hailstorm of controversy on the Net, as young cyber-Turks whined about how he had ripped them off and destroyed their secret club."

Mark Frauenfelder also defended Idol, pointing out the elitist hypocrisy of the WELL community, and highlighted the perceived pointlessness of the conflict. "There are all these 16- and 17-year-old cyberpunks who are afraid that everybody's going to learn their secret handshake or something." Andy Hawks, original maintainer of the alt.cyberpunk Frequently Asked Questions list, and founder of the Future Culture mailing list, criticised what he perceived to be a double standard among Idol's critics in questioning his motivation behind creating the album and his choice of associating on internet forums.

Penn Jillette, then a columnist for PC/Computing, accepted that Idol was not well versed in computers, but considered it a non-issue. "I'm tempted to call him a computer 'poser' but that's not the point. [...] He's not a poser. He's a fan of computers, and he doesn't claim to be more. [...] He's not a fan of computers because he can write code, he's a fan because he knows that whatever is really happening nowadays is happening around computers."

Regardless, Cyberpunk is still seen as having been an act of hyped commercialisation. In Escape Velocity: Cyberculture at the End of the Century, Mark Dery commented on the mainstreaming of the cyberpunk subculture. He viewed Idol as representing some of the worst abuses this took, deriding Cyberpunk as "a bald-faced appropriation of every cyberpunk cliché that wasn't nailed down." In 1995, when writer Jack Boulware asked "When did cyberpunk die?" at a meeting of former staff members of Mondo 2000, a response was "1993. The release of the Billy Idol record." In a section on "cyberpunk music", The Cyberpunk Project website notes, "...[the] usual opinion is that Billy Idol's album is just commercialization and it has nothing to do with cyberpunk." The F.A.Q for alt.cyberpunk, mirrored on the website, rejects the notion that there is a "cyberpunk fashion". Of Billy Idol's attempts to base his fashion and music on it, it states, "No matter how sincere his intentions might have been, scorn and charges of commercialization have been heaped upon him in this and other forums."

Well known music critic, Robert Christgau, excoriated what he considered to be Idol's attempt to co-opt cyberpunk for commercial gain. In particular, he compared Idol's new interest in cyberpunk to the musician's previous co-optation of the punk subculture. "Even if his interest was originally piqued by the dollar signs that appear in front of his eyes whenever he encounters the magic rune p-u-n-k, that's the fate of any good idea—sooner or later it touches people who have no deep connection to it." However, unlike some critics who asserted Idol had no genuine interest in cyberculture, Christgau assumed he did and that this was to be expected, as many subcultures are eventually adopted by mainstream society. The problem, Christgau asserted, was that Idol had no genuine understanding of the concept, and that ultimately Idol could only "[struggle] for, over, or with authenticity, a rock obsession [he's] always kept at arm's length and never escaped."

As one of the founders of the cyberpunk genre, William Gibson has repeatedly been asked for his opinion on the subject of the mainstreaming of cyberpunk, which has often brought up the topic of Idol's album. In a 1994 interview, Gibson said that he did not approve of the way the term "cyberpunk" was being increasingly commercialised by popular culture, and that Idol had "turned it into something very silly". Gibson also said in another interview that to understand cyberpunk as a movement was "something of a joke, as wonderfully demonstrated, not too long ago, by Billy Idol's Cyberpunk album." Despite his negative comments, Gibson was bemused, rather than angered, by Idol's creation. Stating that he'd tried to withhold judgment before hearing the album, he eventually did and said "...I just don't get what he's on about. I don't see the connection. [...] I had lunch with Billy years ago in Hollywood... and I thought he was a very likeable guy. He had a sense of humour about what he was doing that is not apparent in the product he puts out. If I run into him again, we can have a good laugh about what he's doing now!"

Academic analysis

Shawn P. Wilbur, a left-libertarian academic then associated with the Bowling Green State University, closely critiqued the concept of the supposed "cyberpunk movement". In an attempt to understand why members of the movement were so negative in reaction to attempts by the mainstream to investigate the cyberpunk meme, he directly investigated the criticism of Billy Idol on alt.cyberpunk. His interpretation of the discussions led him to dub the reactions of alt.cyberpunk the "Panic of '93". It was Wilbur's assertion that the lack of a cohesive understanding of what "cyberpunk" meant was the chief reason for a lack of critical thought displayed during discussions concerning its inspection or adoption by "outsiders".

He concluded, "[u]senet's alt.cyberpunk is both a warning and a promise. It suggests the power of ideas to draw people together, even when they aren't quite sure what those ideas are."

While examining Pat Cadigan's 1991 novel, Synners, Wilbur also referenced the Cyberpunk single, "Shock to the System", interpreting the song on multiple levels. These included the "shock" cyberpunk represented to established forms of science fiction, as well as the "future shock" society felt in reaction to new technology. Wilbur also asserted that the storyline told by the music video neatly fit into the cyberpunk tradition of glorifying social resistance.

The single, "Shock to the System", and its accompanying music video were also heavily analysed for the overtones of racial, sexual, and physical trauma presented within them by Thomas Foster, associate professor at Indiana University, in his 2005 book, The Souls of Cyberfolk.

Re-release
Despite the overwhelmingly negative reviews from professional critics, the album was reissued on 22 August 2006 by Collectables Records as part of its Priceless Collection series. The reissued album did not include the special edition multimedia of the original, but did include new cover art.

Legacy

Billy Idol's career
Following the Cyberpunk album, Billy Idol did not produce another original album until 2005, 13 years later. However, this was not due to the failure of the album, but rather his dissatisfaction with his producers at Chrysalis Records. With the founding of Sanctuary Records, an independent record label Idol felt positive about, and the formation of a new band with Steve Stevens, Idol decided to produce Devil's Playground. Idol's later album featured a more power pop and classic rock sound similar to Idol's 80s style, and received middling reviews.

During the intermittent years between albums, Idol created music for the Speed and Heavy Metal 2000 film soundtracks and regularly wrote and performed new songs for several tours, but never attempted to experiment with the style he explored in Cyberpunk. In 2001, Idol released a compilation album, Greatest Hits. Only one song from Cyberpunk, "Shock to the System", was included in the collection. In 2008, another compilation album, The Very Best of Billy Idol: Idolize Yourself, was released. Once again, the only song from Cyberpunk to be included was a digital remaster of "Shock to the System". Idol achieved widespread commercial success with his greatest hits material; Greatest Hits went platinum.

In the years following the album's release, musicians who had worked with Idol in the past were asked to comment on the failure of Cyberpunk. Tony James of Sigue Sigue Sputnik, a pop-cyberpunk band, and former bassist for Generation X, weighed in. Though sympathetic to his former bandmate, he felt the stylistic change did not fit Idol. "Billy is always cool but he does Billy Idol rebel yellin the best, i felt cyberpunk was a wrong turning for him..he has his sound..stay great as u are Bill..." In 2001 Steve Stevens was asked if Idol's declining popularity and the failure of Cyberpunk was related to their split. Stevens rejected the idea, saying of the failed album, "I think the Cyberpunk record people didn't get. I think I would be doing Billy and his fans a great disservice if I said that he needed me for his popularity."

Idol briefly responded once more to the negative reception the album received on two occasions. In 1996, Idol gave an interview for his website in which he was asked if he'd pursue the style of Cyberpunk for a future album. Idol addressed the question by first explaining his interpretation of the failure of the album. "You see the thing about Cyberpunk is that it was supposed to be like a home[-]made record, much like these rap bands are doing, all made really on home equipment. But it was very hard to make people understand that I was sort of making an alternative record. They don't allow you to make an alternative record..." He then stated that he would not be pursuing the same style with any future album. In a 2005 interview, Idol simply stated "the idea that I was trying to do an overground-underground record just wasn't understood at the time." Tony Dimitriades, a prominent music industry producer and manager, interpreted Idol's response at the time. "He realized at that point, 'Well, if that's what people think, maybe I lost touch with my public.'"

While embarking upon a 2010 tour, Idol was asked if he intended to perform music from the Cyberpunk album. While not distancing himself from the production, Idol stated he had no intentions of doing so immediately. Pointing out that he did wish to perform a mixture of new and older works, and would perhaps perform the music in the future, he intended to base his tour on "more guitar music" and pointed out that Cyberpunk'''s keyboard-driven music was not going to be featured. Idol has performed "Shock to the System" in subsequent live performances.

Critical legacy
In 1999, The A.V. Club awarded Cyberpunk as the "Least Essential Concept Album" of the 1990s. An accompanying review stated, "The result [of Idol's casting as a "futuristic maverick" and the album itself] is as laughably dated as it is difficult to endure in its entirety." In 2006, Q magazine listed Cyberpunk as No. 5 in their list of the 50 worst albums of all time. Said music critic Parke Puterbaugh, "To make that record in '93, it may have been a number of years ahead of its time actually, because it didn't do terribly well."

Music industry's use of technology

The album was prescient for its early advocacy of the use of the internet and software to market albums. The Boston Globe reported, "[Cyberpunk] demands recognition as a style setter, not for its musical content, but for the changes it may prompt in the ways recordings are made and marketed". Idol's early adoption of the internet to communicate with fans was broadened in the years after Cyberpunks release. By the late '90s, many celebrities had made inroads on to the internet, using official websites and blogs to directly advertise albums and tours to fans, as well as organizing fansites for official fan clubs. Billy Idol's own official fansite was established in 1997. In 2010, Idol continued to pursue his early vision for the integration of his tours with technology by utilising his website to document a world tour through a blog and streaming video feed. "These days, [Idol] sees his own website as his old vision of the future becoming reality."

The inclusion of multimedia software as a special feature was a novelty when Chrysalis Records released the Billy Idol's Cyberpunk diskette. This was also widely adopted by the music industry years later. CD-ROMs were initially considered as a medium for Cyberpunks multimedia features, but were too expensive at the time of production, and so floppy disks were used instead. Peter Gabriel and Todd Rundgren had previously experimented with CD-ROMs, but it was hoped that if Idol's album had proved popular, it could have been reissued with CD-ROMs, catapulting the format into the music industry's mainstream. This never materialised due to the album's general failures. However, during the late '90s it became increasingly common for some limited edition digipaks to include CD-ROMs, evolving by the early 2000s into the inclusion of DVDs.

Track listing

Personnel"Core" personnel Billy Idolvocals; keyboards; programming; arranger
 Mark Younger-Smithguitars; sitars; keyboards; programming; arranger
 Robin Hancockarrangement; mixing; engineer; producer; programming; keyboardsAdditional personnel Doug Wimbishbass guitar
 Larry Seymourbass guitar
 Tal Bergmandrums
 Durga McBroomvocals (background)
 Carnie Wilsonvocals (background)
 Wendy Wilsonvocals (background)
 Jamie Muhoberacorgan; keyboards
 Stephen Marcussenaudio mastering
 Ed Korengomixing; mixing assistant
 Mike Baumgartneraudio engineering assistant; mixing; mixing assistant
 Ross Donaldsonaudio engineering
 Ron Donaldsonaudio engineering
 Robert Faragovoices; speech/speaker/speaking part; spoken word
 London Jo Henwoodspeech/speaker/speaking part
 David Weisspercussion, saw
 Henry Marquezart direction
 Michael Diehldesign
 Greg Gormanphotography
 Elisabeth Sundayphotography
 Brett Leonardphotography
 Gwen Mullenrendering
 Scott HamptonrenderingUncredited Gareth Branwynconsultation, lyrics (Untitled (Opening Manifesto)), text (diskette)
 Mark Frauenfelderconsultation; graphic design (cover art and logo for album, singles, and VHS cassette)
 Timothy Learyconsultation; spoken word (album track No. 15 segue)
 Jaime LevyInteractive Producer

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

See also

 List of cyberpunk works: MusicCyberpunk promotion Interactive advertising
 Internet marketing
 Social media

Footnotes.'''  Cyberpunk was one of the first albums to list the e-mail address of the artist in advertisements and within the album booklet. The address, idol@well.sf.ca.us, is now inactive.

References

Further reading
 
 

External links
 "I Want My Desktop MTV", by Fred Davis. Wired, 1.03. (Jul/Aug 1993).  Wireds article on the increasing use of interactive media by musicians in the early 1990s. Briefly mentions Billy Idol's Cyberpunk album.
 "Cyberpunk: A Biography", by Mark Frauenfelder. (1993) An archived review of Billy Idol's Cyberpunk.
 "Beyond Cyberpunk!:The Web Version", by Gareth Branwyn. (ca 1990) An online version of the HyperCard stack that inspired the creation of the "Billy Idol's Cyberpunk" floppy disk. Was updated in '93 with new material, including an updated article on the Cyberpunk album.

Album indexes
 
 Cyberpunk at Last.fm
 

1993 albums
Albums recorded in a home studio
Billy Idol albums
Chrysalis Records albums
Science fiction concept albums
Cyberpunk music
Non-fiction Cyberpunk media
Works about computer hacking
Concept albums Johan Sebastian Walldén, (born 5 February 1995) is a Swedish singer and winner of Idol 2018.

He competed in the final against Kadiatou Holm Keita in Globen on 7 December that year. He has earlier participated as a contestant on Paradise Hotel: Förspelet, broadcast on TV3, where he competed for a place as a contestants on the Swedish version of Paradise Hotel, but he did not win a spot.

Walldén is openly gay.

Singles

References 

Living people
1995 births
People from Gothenburg
Idol (Swedish TV series) participants
Idol (Swedish TV series) winners
LGBT singers from Sweden
Gay musicians
21st-century Swedish singers
21st-century Swedish male singers
20th-century LGBT people
21st-century LGBT people