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Billy Idol Discovers Son He Didn’t Know He Had Via 23andMe

Billy Idol learned through a 23andMe DNA test that his daughter, Bonnie, had taken that he had fathered a previously unknown son in 1985 named Brant. According to People, this…

Billy Idol learned through a 23andMe DNA test that his daughter, Bonnie, had taken that he had fathered a previously unknown son in 1985 named Brant.

According to People, this information was revealed in the new documentary Billy Idol Should Be Dead. The film had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 10. (As of publishing, a wide release of the doc has not been announced.)

Bonnie says in the film, "My husband just surprised me with a 23andMe, with a DNA test as a Christmas present. 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?’”

Once Brant connected with Bonnie through 23andMe, he had a talk with his mother. She admitted that the man he was told was his biological father might not be because, at one point, they broke up, and she "spent a weekend with Billy Idol."

After the existence of Brant was discovered, Idol got in contact with him. The rocker said, "Once I saw Brant with Bonnie and [son] Willem, they've all got the same quirky sense of humor. And once I saw that, I could see he's my son, really."

Brant has been in contact with Idol and his half-siblings for a few years now and was in attendance when Idol received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2023. The ceremony can be seen in its entirety below.





Erica Banas is a news blogger who's been covering the rock/classic rock world since 2014. The coolest event she's ever covered in person was the 2021 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. (Sir Paul McCartney inducting Foo Fighters? C'mon now!) She's also well-versed in etiquette and extraordinarily nice. #TransRightsAreHumanRights