Sex Pistols
As the controversy surrounding Belfast hip-hop trio Kneecap continues to swirl, former Sex Pistols vocalist John Lydon has weighed in on the debate.
Lydon, who fronted the pioneering U.K. punk band from 1975 until 1978 and on their numerous reunions until 2008 as Johnny Rotten, made his comments in the wake of the myriad controversies faced by Kneecap in recent weeks.
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However, while speaking to Good Morning Britain on Wednesday (May 8), the program’s host brought up a recent incident in which Kneecap issued an apology for archival footage which showed the group allegedly calling for the death of British MPs (members of parliament).
Filmed at a London gig in November 2023, it appears to show one member of the band saying: “The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.” At the time, the Conservative Party – also known as the Tories – were in government with a large majority.
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“If you’re advocating the death of another human being, then you have no cause whatsoever,” Lydon said in response to the incident. “You are my enemy from here on in for the rest of your mediocre existence. You shouldn’t be talking like that, you shouldn’t be making enemies of your fellow human beings. Other than that, maybe they need a bloody good kneecapping!”
In the context of the matter, ‘kneecapping’ – the term from which the trio take their name – refers to how Northern Ireland paramilitaries would take the law into their own hands during The Troubles by inflicting injuries on those accused of criminal or antisocial behaviour, usually with a gunshot to the knee.
Lydon also commented on Kneecap’s apparent attempts to generate controversy in the modern age by claiming they’re taking cues from the Sex Pistols’ playbook. “I think they’re following what they think is the Sex Pistols route,” he added. “It’s helpful, isn’t it, when you get the Financial Times propping you up.”
Kneecap made global headlines following their appearance at the Coachella festival in April, where they projected strong anti-Israel sentiments during their set – sentiments which they had claimed were censored during their first weekend appearance.
“Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people,” the projected messages read. “It is being enabled by the U.S. government who arm and fund Israel despite their war crimes. F–k Israel; free Palestine.”
The backlash to Kneecap’s comments were swift and varied, with Sharon Osbourne calling for the band’s work visas to be revoked ahead of another North American tour later in the year, while the trio would soon split with their booking agent, Independent Artist Group.
Lydon has been rather prolific in terms of public comment in recent weeks, having recently taken to disparaging the nascent version of the Sex Pistols which have been touring with Frank Carter on lead vocals, and distancing himself from any potential reunions with his former bandmates.
“Not after what I consider their dirty deeds, let them wallow in Walt Disney woke expectations,” he said in response to the notion of returning to the role of vocalist. “They’ve killed the content, or done their best to, and turned the whole thing into a rubbish, childishness, and that’s unacceptable.
“Sorry, I’m not going to give a helping hand to this any longer, as far as I am concerned, I am the Pistols, and they’re not.”
Fans of English punk icons the Sex Pistols should temper their expectations when it comes to dreams of a reunion with vocalist Johnny Rotten, the singer says.
News of a tour from the Sex Pistols emerged in 2024 when it was first announced that the band – featuring original members Steve Jones, Paul Cook, and Glen Matlock – were to reunite for a two-night affair to benefit West London’s Bush Hall.
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Instead of Rotten (whose real name is John Lydon) taking on the role of frontman, the group was to feature Frank Carter, who has previously performed as the singer of acts such as Gallows, Pure Love and Frank Carter And The Rattlesnakes. As a result, the current version of the band is officially being billed as the ‘Sex Pistols Featuring Frank Carter.’
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Lydon has not been shy in regard to his opinions of the current lineup, however. Previously, he labelled the reunion tantamount to “karaoke,” while being far more straightforward with his opinions in other interviews.
“When I first heard that the Sex Pistols were touring this year without me it pissed me off,” he told British publication The i Paper. “It annoyed me. I just thought, ‘they’re absolutely going to kill all that was good with the Pistols by eliminating the point and the purpose of it all.’”
Now, Lydon addressed the notion as to whether a reunion with him behind the microphone would be a possibility at some point. However, he told PA (via The Independent) that after his legal disagreements with his bandmates over the usage of songs in the 2022 FX/Disney+ series Pistol, such a dream will remain unrealized for fans.
“Never, not after what I consider their dirty deeds, let them wallow in Walt Disney woke expectations,” he explained. “They’ve killed the content, or done their best to, and turned the whole thing into a rubbish, childishness, and that’s unacceptable.
“Sorry, I’m not going to give a helping hand to this any longer, as far as I am concerned, I am the Pistols, and they’re not.”
In a recent interview, Jones explained that Lydon wasn’t involved in any discussions about the nascent version of the band, conceding there would be no point in attempting to get him to join the band given their recent disagreements.
“I literally haven’t spoken to John since that last tour in 2008,” Jones explained. “I want to be clear, I’ve got nothing bad to say about John. I think he’s great; I love him. We had a great past and I’m just moving on from that. That’s all. It was just no fun anymore.”
The current iteration of the band recently announced a run of North American tour dates, which will launch in Dallas, TX on Sept. 16 and wrap in Los Angeles, CA one month later on Oct. 16.
Sex Pistols Featuring Frank Carter – North American Tour 2025
Sept. 16 – Longhorn Ballroom, Dallas, TXSept. 23 – 9:30 Club, Washington, DCSept. 26 – Fillmore, Philadelphia, PASept. 27 – TBD, Brooklyn, NYSept. 30 – Mtelus, Montreal, QCOct. 1 – History, Toronto, ONOct. 3 – Agora Theatre, Cleveland, OHOct. 4 – Fillmore, Detroit, MIOct. 7 – Fillmore, Minneapolis, MNOct. 10 – Mission Ballroom, Denver, COOct. 13 – Showbox SoDo, Seattle, WAOct. 15 – Warfield, San Francisco, CAOct. 16 – Hollywood Palladium, Los Angeles, CA
Former Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon has dismissed his bandmates’ decision to reform with Frank Carter on vocals, likening the whole endeavor to “karaoke”.
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News of a tour from the Sex Pistols emerged in 2024 when it was first announced that the band – featuring original members Steve Jones, Paul Cook, and Glen Matlock – were to reunite for a two-night affair to benefit West London’s Bush Hall.
The reunion did not, however, feature Lydon, who served as the vocalist of the band under his Johnny Rotten moniker. Instead, the group was to be fronted by Carter, who has previously fronted acts such as Gallows, Pure Love and Frank Carter And The Rattlesnakes.
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The initial shows soon led to further dates around the U.K. and Europe, with the band billed as Sex Pistols featuring Frank Carter. Further shows have since been announced for Australia, New Zealand, and other European countries throughout 2025. In January, Jones confirmed U.S. dates would follow, though specifics are yet to arrive.
Lydon, however, had remained largely quiet in regard to the nascent shows from the band. On Thursday (Feb. 13), he spoke to British publication The i Paper about the tour, explaining that he largely felt “annoyed” by the whole affair and feared it would tarnish the group’s legacy.
“When I first heard that the Sex Pistols were touring this year without me it pissed me off,” he explained. “It annoyed me. I just thought, ‘they’re absolutely going to kill all that was good with the Pistols by eliminating the point and the purpose of it all.’ I didn’t write those words lightly. They’re trying to trivialise the whole show to get away with karaoke but in the long term I think you’ll see who has the value and who doesn’t. I’ve never sold my soul to make a dollar. It’s the Catholic in me – that guilt I don’t want to trip.
“Like Nancy Reagan, I’ve always found it easy to just say ‘no,’” he continued. “If something challenges your heart and your soul and your mind and your sense of purity of what is right and wrong in the world, then just say no. Which, according to the corporate thinking which riddles the music business earns me the title of ‘difficult to work with’ – a title of which I’m very proud.”
The new tour is not the first time, however, that Sex Pistols members have performed songs with a different vocalist. In recent years, Jones and Cook teamed up with Billy Idol and Tony James of Generation X to form the supergroup Generation Sex. Though initially a one-off occurrence in 2018, the group would later embark on a European tour in 2023.
Lydon touched on both the nascent iteration of the Sex Pistols and the Generation Sex group in another recent interview with the Classic Album Review podcast, claiming it’s his presence that makes for the genuine article.
“I wrote the fucking songs, didn’t I? I gave them the image,” he explained. ”I was the frontman. I am the voice what made the whole world sing. And now [they’re] going out, as they did the year before with Billy Idol. It’s just karaoke, really.
“I would love to be embarrassed by high-quality songwriting from them,” he continued. “They’ve had long enough to get that together now, haven’t they? But no. They profess their hatred for me, but they can’t live without me. I am the punishment that goes on giving.”
The Sex Pistols initially existed from 1975 until 1978, releasing their sole studio album Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols in 1977. Lauded as a pioneering punk outfit despite their short initial tenure, the band would later reform in 1996 for a world tour, and undertook sporadic tours until 2008.
Famously, the band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006, though refused to attend the ceremony, labeling the institution a “piss stain.”
Just in time for the 47th anniversary of their sole album, handwritten lyrics for songs on the Sex Pistols’ Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols are up for auction.
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Penned by frontman John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten), the lyrics are for the songs “Holidays in the Sun”, which opened the band’s 1977 debut, and “Submission”, which appeared as a standalone single with the record, and was included in later editions.
Though influential, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols was not a chart success in the U.S, ultimately peaking at No. 106 on the Billboard 200 after 12 weeks on the chart.
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The lyrics are penned in green and black ballpoint pen on both sides of the 8 x 13 sheet, which feature the full lyrics to “Holidays in the Sun” (written as “Holiday in the Sun”) on one side, along with the opening line, “A cheap holiday in other peoples misery”, added in pencil. The other side features green ballpoint lyrics for “Submission”, though Lydon had not yet added the title at the time of writing.
The sheet is presented in “fine condition, with three folds and general light handling wear”, and features a signed letter of authenticity, and one from music journalist Jon Savage, from whose personal collection the lyrics are derived from.
The letter notes that the lyrics were “collected during the research of England’s Dreaming, now regarded as the classic book on Punk Rock and that period (1975-79) in British social and political life”, and that “it was most likely written when the Sex Pistols signed a publishing deal with Warner Brothers in autumn 1977 and is an original from the collection of Jamie Reid that came into my possession during 1980”.
The lyrics themselves have been on loan to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland since 1996, where it has been “prominently displayed in the Museum’s Punk exhibit”, and has also been show at London’s Hospital Exhibition in 2004, and at the ‘PUNK: Sex, Seditionaries & the Sex Pistols’ exhibition at Manchester’s Urbis building in 2005.
The auction is scheduled to close on Nov. 21, and though 14 bids at the time of writing have seen the price reach $30,800, it is estimated to exceed $80,000 by the time the hammer falls.
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