Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook has confirmed one of the more unusual stories from the band’s early days: some of their first equipment was stolen from David Bowie’s stage.
Cook said guitarist Steve Jones was responsible for taking the gear while Bowie was playing two nights at London’s Hammersmith Odeon in 1973.
“Bowie was playing at our local venue at Hammersmith Odeon at the time, doing two nights there,” Cook said. “We were looking for instruments and bits and pieces to start our band.”
At the time, Jones and Cook were still trying to put together the group that would eventually become the Sex Pistols. According to Cook, Jones had already developed a habit of stealing things and began directing that energy toward musical equipment.
“He was, by his own admission, a kleptomaniac at the time, and it channeled his energies into stealing musical equipment.”
Cook said Jones went around the back of the venue while Bowie’s crew were staying overnight between the two concerts.
“While the roadies were asleep overnight, he managed to get away with quite a few bits and pieces, including cymbals and a few other bits.”
Those stolen items then became part of the equipment the young musicians used while trying to get their band started.
“That’s how we got all our equipment initially, really.”
Jones himself has previously told a more detailed version of the story. In a 2025 interview, he said he entered the Hammersmith Odeon at around 2 a.m. after Bowie’s first show, when much of the equipment had been left onstage for the following night.
According to Jones, he took cymbals belonging to drummer Mick Woodmansey, a Sunn bass amplifier and several microphones. He even remembered taking one microphone that appeared to have Bowie’s lipstick on it.
“I got Bowie’s microphone with his lipstick on it!” Jones recalled.
Jones later said Bowie eventually learned about what happened and found the story funny. He also made amends with Woodmansey years later, giving the drummer money for the cymbals he had stolen.
The Bowie incident was not the only time stolen equipment became part of the Sex Pistols’ early setup.
Jones has also said that the Fender Twin Reverb amplifier he used during the making of *Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols* had been stolen from Bob Marley at the same venue.
Stories about Jones and Cook stealing instruments and equipment existed long before the Sex Pistols became successful. Malcolm McLaren later wrote that members of the early group stole gear from several musicians they admired, including Bowie.
Cook’s latest retelling puts that behavior directly into the story of how the band began.
Before record deals, major shows or the Sex Pistols name itself, Jones and Cook were simply young musicians trying to find enough equipment to start playing — and some of that equipment came directly from the stage of one of Britain’s biggest artists.
