“Come on Mr. Carter, you’re not Johnny Rotten, I am”: John Lydon speaks again on Sex Pistols reunion
It’s hard to imagine the Sex Pistols without their loudmouthed, chaos-loving frontman Johnny Rotten – and John Lydon is once again reminding everyone that neither can he.
Earlier this year, Lydon’s former bandmates – guitarist Steve Jones, drummer Paul Cook, and bassist Glen Matlock – announced a Sex Pistols reunion tour with Gallows singer Frank Carter on vocals. Lydon wasted no time tearing into the project, accusing the group of ‘killing the content’ of the Pistols’ message and reducing their legacy to what he calls “rubbish childishness.”
Now, in a new interview with Classic Rock, the musician doubles down on his criticism, calling the Carter-fronted Sex Pistols “karaoke”, among others.
READ MORE: Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones hasn’t spoken to John Lydon since 2008, says it “wasn’t even worth asking” him about joining their reunion
“It’s weird,” he says. “A dumbing down of all the integrity, intensity, genuine honesty and heartfelt emotions I put into that band. Of course, it’s karaoke, but it’s like… Come on, Mr Carter, you’re not Johnny Rotten, I am. Right? Stop it.”
He does, however, throw Carter a bone: “Though I actually think he took it on in the right spirit,” Lydon concedes.
That’s more than he offered Billy Idol, who fronted a similar Jones-and-Cook revival under the Generation Sex banner in 2023.
“Poor Billy, he ran out of wind,” says Lydon. “He can’t sing them songs.”
The new barbs only deepen an already bitter rift. In 2021, Lydon tried (and failed) to block Pistol – Danny Boyle’s FX miniseries based on Jones’ memoir – from using the band’s music, calling the show “the most disrespectful shit”. Then in 2022, he accused his former bandmates of trying to “cash in” on the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Meanwhile, Lydon is currently on tour with Public Image Ltd., with a new album reportedly in the works. The Sex Pistols, minus Rotten, are slated to hit North America later this fall.
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