Former Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon opened up about his current standing within the Sex Pistols organization in a new Rolling Stone interview. He shed light on the internal dynamics of the band and his complicated relationship with his former bandmates.
When asked directly about his role in the Sex Pistols organization, Lydon painted a picture of a group now operating without his full participation.
“It used to be that nothing could go through unless all four agreed to it, and now it’s three against one, and they all have the same management and representation,” Lydon said. “How cozy for them. Well, it’s taken them nowhere because they don’t have any ideas. It’s regurgitating all my early stuff. That’s all they’ve got.”
Lydon also addressed whether he would consider bringing Sex Pistols songs into his Public Image Ltd (PiL) setlist. He expressed a clear reluctance rooted in how he feels the legacy has since been handled.
“We used to. Now? No. I would feel like I was going back and dealing with something that was wild, wonderful, and great at the time, but it’s since been contaminated,” he said. “It’s like picking your old favorite socks out of the sewer.”
Despite the tension, Lydon made clear he holds no ill will toward his former bandmates when it comes to their livelihood. Commenting on a festival where both PiL and the Sex Pistols are set to appear, he took a measured stance.
“[The Sex Pistols] are on the same bill as us for some festival. I think they’re on the night before. The promoter was ringing us up going, ‘Oh, my God. Will this be a problem for you?'” Lydon recalled. “Absolutely not. I think the yin and yang comparison would be more of a problem to them. I would never deny them the right to earn money. I’m very flattered that promoters ask me such a question, but I wouldn’t do that. It’s not my agenda, mate.”
The current state of affairs between Lydon and his former bandmates did not emerge overnight. A series of legal battles and lineup decisions over recent years have steadily widened the gap, leaving the two sides operating in entirely different directions.
The breaking point came when Lydon took Steve Jones, Glen Matlock, and Paul Cook to court in an unsuccessful attempt to block the use of Sex Pistols music in Danny Boyle’s miniseries Pistol. The legal defeat deepened an already fractured relationship. It marked a turning point from which the band’s internal unity never recovered.
Following that dispute, Jones, Matlock, and Cook pressed forward with a reunion tour under the banner “Sex Pistols Featuring Frank Carter.” Carter — known as the frontman of Gallows — stepped in as lead vocalist. Lydon dismissed the project as a “karaoke” version of the band and a “clown’s circus at work.”
The personal estrangement runs just as deep as the professional one. Jones has stated publicly that he and Lydon have not spoken since 2008. Lydon himself noted that when his wife Nora passed away after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease, not a single former bandmate reached out. “I expected some kind of connection when Nora died, but nothing,” Lydon said.
When Jones extended a public olive branch and offered reconciliation, Lydon’s response was unambiguous. “No, never,” he said, adding that his former bandmates had “humiliated themselves.” For Lydon, the wounds go beyond creative differences — they are personal, and by his own account, permanent.
