The new Billy Idol documentary Billy Idol Should Be Dead debuted at the Tribeca Festival Tuesday, and in it the rocker reveals how he discovered he had a long-lost son he never knew about.
Idol was already a father to son Willem Broad with ex Perri Lister and daughter Bonnie Blue Broad with Linda Mathis. But after Bonnie took a DNA test, she discovered there was another member of the family.
“My husband just surprised me with a 23andMe, with a DNA test as a Christmas present,” Bonnie says in the doc, according to People. “And then a few weeks later, I get the results back on the app and open it and I’m like, who is this? This Brant. And it says his info’s like, New York, 1985, looking for my bio dad. I was like, ‘What?'”
Brant Broad says he thought someone else was his father, but a DNA test proved otherwise. When he asked his mother about it, she revealed that when she and the guy Brant thought was his dad broke up she spent a weekend with Idol.
The rocker has since welcomed Brant into the family; Brant even attended Idol’s Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony in 2023.
“Once I saw Brant with Bonnie and Willem, they’ve all got the same quirky sense of humor,” Idol says. “And once I saw that, I could see he’s my son, really.”
Brant adds, “He’s definitely showed me a lot of love, so I’m blessed.”
Copyright © 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
