John Lydon, also known as Johnny Rotten, has dismissed any chance of the Sex Pistols getting together in the studio for a sequel to their influential debut, ‘Never Mind The Bollocks’.
The album, released in 1977, galvanised the growing punk movement in Britain, featuring hits like “God Save the Queen” and “Anarchy In The UK”.
It was the only offering from the band, as they split up a few months later in 1978 following a chaotic US tour.
He described the Pistols fanbase as “very demanding” in an interview with Blitzed Magazine, saying: “They’ll grab hold of you, and they won’t let go of that vision of you. You can’t live your life according to somebody else’s illusions about you. You just can’t.”
“You’ve got to be true to yourself. For me, I’ve always declared I had a vast, vast record collection of music, so I was influenced in many different directions and some of them completely contradictory to each other.”
“And so I’d say to those that were still expecting ‘Never Mind the Bollocks Part 2’ – f**k off you idiot. What are you not listening to?”
Last year, The Sex Pistols held two reunion shows at London’s Bush Hall, playing ‘Never Mind The Bollocks’ in full. They chose Gallows frontman Frank Carter to take Lydon’s place as lead vocalist.
Following an overwhelming response to their reunion, they embarked on a UK comeback tour.
John voiced his disapproval, telling the i Paper that he was “pissed off” when the remaining band members were set to tour without him last year, calling it a “karaoke” act that undermines their legacy.
He explained: “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’.
“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.”
The relationship between Lydon and the rest of the band has been sour for some time – guitarist Steve Jones told NME that the band haven’t spoken to him in 17 years. Recently, the former frontman lost a legal battle against his old bandmates, after refusing to license the use of the Sex Pistols music in Danny Boyle’s 2022 biographical mini-series, Pistol.
Meanwhile, Lydon’s band Public Image Ltd will be touring in 2025. The post-punk group debuted in the late 70’s following the disbandment of the Sex Pistols.
The Pistols have scheduled a handful of dates for 2025, including at Download Festival, alongside acts such as Green Day, Sleep Token and Korn. You can see our writeup on the rock festival here.
