Downey Students Covered ‘Rebel Yell’ With Billy Idol Sitting Right There

Students at Griffiths Middle School in Downey, California, welcomed Billy Idol with a performance of “Rebel Yell,” which meant playing the song for the one person who knows exactly how it is supposed to go.²

Idol visited the school on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026, and answered students’ questions in a Q&A.²³ The visit was part of a new partnership between the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation and Save The Music to expand music education in public schools.²

The goal reaches well beyond one school. The initiative, which also includes iHeartMedia, aims to fund at least 25 new music education programs in public schools over several years.²

What the Downey schools are getting

Griffiths students already received instruments from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation earlier this fall, according to a post from the Rock Hall.⁵

Griffiths was not starting from scratch. It was named a 2026 California Distinguished School, and its Advanced Band and Advanced Choir have taken part in the Forum Music Festival.⁶

Next, it’s the neighbors’ turn. Doty Middle School, also in the Downey Unified School District, is due to receive a $55,000 music education grant in 2027 that will provide new band instruments.³⁵

Why a rock star showed up

The partnership is meant to give schools instruments, technology and teaching materials, and to connect students with professional musicians.⁴ As part of the program, Hall of Fame inductees visit schools.²

Idol is one of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s 2026 inductees and is scheduled to be inducted at a Nov. 14 ceremony at the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles.²⁴

Idol talked about how much work it took to feed his love of music when he was young. “Every weekend I’d do a couple of paper rounds so I could go buy an album or I could see a band,” he said, as reported by CBS News Los Angeles.²

Paper rounds are what Americans call paper routes, and a couple of them every weekend is a serious commitment to a record collection.

He also connected that experience to the students in front of him. “When I was in school, picking up an instrument changed everything for me,” Idol said, according to Rolling Stone. “Save The Music and The Rock Hall are making sure these students have the same shot, and I’m proud to be part of that.”³

A first for the Rock Hall

Save The Music is the first recipient of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation’s first-ever grantmaking program, so the foundation that honors musicians is now also funding music education.² The partnership is described as multiyear.⁴

Programming is also planned in other communities, including Los Angeles and Compton.²