John Lydon
John Joseph Lydon (/ˈlaɪdən/; born 31 January 1956), also known by his former stage name Johnny Rotten, is a singer. He was the lead vocalist of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols, which was active from 1975 to 1978, and again for various revivals during the 1990s and 2000s. He is also the lead vocalist of post-punk band Public Image Ltd (PiL), which he founded and fronted from 1978 until 1993, and again since 2009.
John Lydon
John Joseph Lydon
Johnny Rotten
31 January 1956
Finsbury Park, London, England
- Singer
- songwriter
1975–present
Lydon's outspoken personality, rebellious image and fashion style convinced Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren to invite Lydon to join the group as its lead vocalist. With the Sex Pistols, he penned singles including "Anarchy in the U.K.", "God Save the Queen", and "Holidays in the Sun", the content of which precipitated what one commentator described as the "last and greatest outbreak of pop-based moral pandemonium" in Britain.[1] The band scandalised much of the media, and Lydon was seen as a figurehead of the burgeoning punk movement.[2][3] Due to their controversial lyrics and disrepute at the time, they are regarded as one of the most influential acts in the history of popular music.[4][5]
After the Sex Pistols disbanded in 1978, Lydon founded his own band, Public Image Ltd, which was far more experimental in nature and described in a 2005 review by NME as "arguably the first post-rock group".[6] The band produced eight studio albums and a string of singles, including "Public Image", "Death Disco", and "Rise", before they went on hiatus in 1993, reforming in 2009. In subsequent years, Lydon has hosted television series in the UK, US, and Belgium, in 2004 appeared on I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here! in the UK, appeared in advertisements on UK television promoting Country Life, a brand of British butter, written two autobiographies, and produced solo musical work, such as the studio album Psycho's Path (1997). In 2005, he released a compilation album, The Best of British £1 Notes.[7]
In 2015, there was a revival of a 1980s movement to have Lydon knighted for his achievements with the Sex Pistols, although he declined an MBE for services to music.[8] Q magazine remarked that "somehow he's assumed the status of national treasure".[9]
Origin of stage name[edit]
Lydon explained the origin of his stage name, Johnny Rotten, in a feature interview with The Daily Telegraph in 2007: he was given the name in the mid-1970s, when his lack of oral hygiene led to his teeth turning green.[62] One version says the name came from the Sex Pistols' guitarist Steve Jones, who saw Lydon's teeth and exclaimed, "You're rotten, you are!"[63]
In 2008, Lydon had extensive dental work performed in Los Angeles, at a reported cost of US$22,000. He explained that it was not done out of vanity: "It was necessity ... all those rotten teeth were seriously beginning to corrupt my system".[64][65]
Political and social criticism[edit]
United Kingdom's class structure[edit]
Since his rise to public attention, Lydon has remained an outspoken critic of much in British politics and society. He comes from an immigrant working class background and is opposed to the class system, describing how private schools "tend to turn out little snobs. They're taught a sense of superiority, which is the kiss of death ... They're absolutely screwed up for life."[88] He is critical of the upper class, stating that they "parasite off the population as their friends help them along" but he equally criticises the working class, claiming that "We're lazy, good-for-nothing bastards, absolute cop-outs [who] never accept responsibility for our own lives and that's why we'll always be downtrodden."[89] He opposes all forms of segregation in schools, not only through the private and state school division but also with single-sex schools: "It doesn't make sense. It's a much better environment with girls in the class. You learn a lot more, as diversity makes things more interesting."[90]
The Troubles[edit]
Lydon criticised the paramilitary organisations involved in The Troubles in Northern Ireland, remarking that the Provisional Irish Republican Army and the Ulster Defence Association were "like two mafia gangs punching each other out ... They both run their extortion rackets and plague people to no end." He remarked that "The Northern Ireland problem is a terrible thing, and it's only the ignorance of the people living outside of it that keeps it going" but that ultimately the British government's exploitative attitude to the problem was in his opinion the main cause.[91]
Anarchism[edit]
Despite the fact that he wrote and sang "Anarchy in the U.K." with the Sex Pistols, Lydon said in a 2012 interview that he never was an anarchist, adding "Anarchy is mind games for the middle class".[92] In a 2022 op-ed he wrote, "Anarchy is a terrible idea. Let's get that clear. I'm not an anarchist. And I'm amazed that there are websites out there – .org anarchist sites – funded fully by the corporate hand and yet ranting on about being outside the shitstorm. It's preposterous."[93]
Banking and the 2008 global financial crisis[edit]
Appearing on the BBC's Question Time on 5 July 2012, Lydon questioned the notion of a parliamentary inquiry into the banking industry, saying "How on earth is Parliament going to discuss this really when both sides, left and right, are connected to this? This doesn't just go back to Brown, this is part of the ongoing problem. Mr Diamond comes from Wall Street ... hello. Both parties love this idea. They are fiddling with rates. They are affecting the world and everything we used to count on as being dependable and accurate is being discussed by these argumentative chaps. If I nick a motor I'm going to be up before the judge, the rozzers. Hello, same thing."[94]
Institutions of the United Kingdom[edit]
On the same episode of Question Time, Lydon was critical of the announcement that the British Army was to be reduced in size, saying: "One of the most beautiful things about Britain, apart from the [National Health Service] and the free education, is the British Army."[95] He has been a supporter of the NHS since receiving treatment for meningitis aged 7, stating in 2014: "I want national health and education to always be of the highest agenda and I do not mind paying tax for that."[96]
Referring the republicanism sentiments expressed in the Sex Pistols song "God Save the Queen", Lydon stated in June 2022 opinion column during the Queen's Platinum Jubilee that he had softened his views on royalty and did not harbor any resentment against the royal family. He signed it off unironically with "God save the Queen".[93] Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Lydon paid tribute to the Queen on Twitter and subsequently objected to any commercial use of The Sex Pistols' tracks to capitalize on the Queen's death.[97]
Pacifism[edit]
Lydon describes himself as a "pacifist by nature" and expresses admiration for Mahatma Gandhi.[98]
Gay adoption[edit]
Lydon expressed his view on gay couples raising children in a 10 February 2005 interview on the BBC's Sunday morning religious programme The Heaven and Earth Show. Lydon said, "I don't like the idea of one-parent families. It's very tough on the kids. They grow up missing something. I find the same with same-sex marriages; there is something missing. There is a point to male and female – and for a child to develop, it needs both those aspects."[99]
Jimmy Savile abuse scandal[edit]
In a 1978 BBC Radio 1 interview, Lydon alluded to the sexual abuses committed by Jimmy Savile, and mainstream social forces' suppression of negative information about him, decades before it became a public scandal. Lydon stated: "I'd like to kill Jimmy Savile; I think he's a hypocrite. I bet he's into all kinds of seediness that we all know about, but are not allowed to talk about. I know some rumours." He added: "I bet none of this will be allowed out."[100] After the interviewer suggested libel might be an issue, Lydon replied, "Nothing I've said is libel."[101]
As Lydon predicted, the comment was edited out by the BBC before broadcast. The complete interview was included as a bonus track on a rerelease of Public Image: First Issue in 2013, after Savile's death.[102] In October 2014, Lydon said that "[b]y killed I meant locking him up and stopping him assaulting young children ... I'm disgusted at the media pretending they weren't aware."[103] Lydon claimed that the BBC blacklisted him following the interview, and he remained "very, very bitter that the likes of Savile and the rest of them were allowed to continue."[104]
UK politics and the European Union[edit]
Lydon publicly supported the United Kingdom remaining in the European Union during the referendum on EU membership in June 2016, stating that being outside of the European Union would be "insane and suicidal" for the United Kingdom, "We're never going to go back to that romantic delusion of Victorian isolation, it isn't going to happen. There'll be no industry, there'll be no trade, there'll be nothing – a slow dismal, collapse. It's ludicrous."[105]
During an interview[106] on Good Morning Britain in March 2017, Lydon stated that he had changed his mind and supported Brexit: "Well, here it goes, the working-class have spoke and I'm one of them and I'm with them."[107] Lydon described Brexit advocate Nigel Farage as "fantastic" and that he wanted to shake his hand after his altercation on the River Thames with anti-Brexit campaigner Bob Geldof.[107] In 2020, Lydon reiterated his personal support for Farage during another interview on Good Morning Britain.[108]
In a 2021 interview with the Yorkshire Post, Lydon said that he previously voted for the Labour Party as a young man due to coming from a working class background, but stated "I do not recognise them any more" and accused contemporary British and American media of "walking hand in glove with left-wing politics".[109] Lydon has also expressed disdain for Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair and described former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn as a "racist, prejudiced bastard" in response to the allegations of antisemitism in the Labour Party.[110]
In 2022, during the Conservative Party leadership election, Lydon stated that he'd like to see Jacob Rees-Mogg as the next U.K. prime minister. He noted that "I love that World War Two respect, put Britain first attitude he has".[111] Rees-Mogg replied to Lydon's comments on Twitter, writing "Even if my leg is being pulled I am honoured by this exceptionally kind endorsement".[112]
American politics[edit]
Lydon became a citizen of the United States in 2013 because he "believed in Barack Obama" and his health care reform, on which he states, "his healthcare thing didn't quite work out what we all want, but there is a great potential there. Now we're looking at dismantling and, you know, [a] crazy loony monster party."[113]
Before Donald Trump was elected President of the United States, Lydon said, in response to questions about his prospects: "No, I can't see it happening, it's a minority that support him at best, and it's so hateful and ignorant."[105] In 2017, though, he said "I'm up for anyone shaking up the jaded world of politicians".[114] During a Good Morning Britain interview in March 2017, Lydon described Trump as a "complicated fellow" who "terrifies politicians". Lydon said that there were "many, many problems with (Trump) as a human being" but defended him against accusations of racism: "What I dislike is the left-wing media in America are trying to smear the bloke as a racist and that's completely not true."[107] He elaborated to NPR: "He's a total cat amongst the pigeons ... [He's] got everybody now involving themselves in a political way. And I've been struggling for years to get people to wake up and do that."[59]
In 2018, Lydon was photographed wearing a shirt that read Trump's campaign slogan Make America Great Again.[115] In October 2020, Lydon told the BBC's Newsday programme, "Yes, of course, I'm voting for Trump ... I don't want a politician running this world anymore."[116] A month later, during an interview on Good Morning Britain, Lydon confirmed he had voted for Trump in the then-upcoming presidential election, describing Trump's Democratic opponent Joe Biden and his 2016 Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton as champagne socialists. He also described his support for Trump as stemming from his background as a working class Englishman and accused the US media of being dominated by liberal ideology, but "liberal with the truth" and claimed "they toe the line of the Democrat party by assumption that they know what's best, yet they don't know nothing about blue collar workers, Latinos, African-Americans in or outside of large cities."[108]
Israel and BDS[edit]
Lydon opposes the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.[110] In 2010, when Elvis Costello and Roger Waters announced their intention to cancel performances in Israel and boycott the country, Lydon elected to continue with a Public Image Ltd concert in Tel Aviv. When asked about his decision in an interview with The Independent, Lydon remarked "if Elvis-fucking-Costello wants to pull out of a gig in Israel because he's suddenly got this compassion for Palestinians, then good on him. But I have absolutely one rule, right? Until I see an Arab country, a Muslim country, with a democracy, I won't understand how anyone can have a problem with how they're treated."[117]
