Music / John Lydon

aka: Johnny Rotten

"I am an anti-Christ

I am an anarchist

Don't know what I want

But I know how to get it

I want to destroy the passerby

Cause I want to be anarchy"

— "Anarchy in the U.K."

John Joseph Lydon (born January 31, 1956 in London, England), better known by his former stage name Johnny Rotten, is a singer and songwriter best known as the lead singer of the Sex Pistols from 1975 until 1978, and again for various revivals during the 1990s and 2000s, as well as the lead singer of the post-punk band Public Image Ltd., which he founded and fronted from 1978 until 1993, and again since 2009. Together with Sid Vicious, he is the most famous punk musician in the world.

Lydon came from a poor working-class background in North London. At age seven, he was struck with spinal meningitis and spent many months in coma in the hospital. As a result, he lost most of his memory and had to learn to talk again. School became very difficult for him, and he was expelled at age 15. The meningitis also gave him his trademark Thousand-Yard Stare, and his bad teeth gave him the nickname "Johnny Rotten", which he would adopt when he became a member of the Sex Pistols in 1976.

As legend would tell it, he was made lead singer of a new rock group by manager Malcolm McLaren after he saw Lydon walking around in a Pink Floyd T-shirt with the words "I Hate" written above the band name. (Ironically, Lydon didn't actually hate Pink Floyd; he was just wearing the shirt to be a nonconformist.) Lydon couldn't sing at all, but he had the right sarcastic attitude to life and a lot of anger and frustration about the world he was brought into.

Under his new name "Johnny Rotten", Lydon became Punk Rock's first hero. His Brutal Honesty about the class system, The British Royal Family and the state of Rock and Pop were embraced by countless teenagers and vilified by just about everybody else. By 1977, the Sex Pistols were the most talked-about and polarizing rock band of the year, despised and feared by many people. Their first and only album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols, was a bestseller and generated huge hits in "God Save the Queen", "Anarchy in the U.K.", and "Pretty Vacant".

Still, Lydon felt that he and his fellow members were being exploited by McLaren and that punk rock was also being commercialized. In January 1978, he ended the Pistols' tour in the USA with his legendary quote "Ever got the feeling you're being cheated?" and left the band. While McLaren tried to keep the Pistols going for another year, with Addled Addict Sid Vicious as the new lead singer, Lydon left his Rotten persona and started a new band: Public Image Ltd.

PiL was a collaboration between Jah Wobble and Keith Levene, and more true to Lydon's actual interests in Avant-Garde Music. They abandoned punk rock's musical style, but kept the anarchistic and anti-commercial attitude. For what remained of the 1970s and most of the 1980s, PiL would be Lydon's most famous endeavour. Still, he never fully left the shadow of the Pistols, being frequently asked for interviews by reporters in search of some audacious quotes. He eventually reformed the Pistols in 1996 for a reunion tour, which he later admitted he did just for the money.

Lydon is still frequently seen on TV, either as a presenter, an interviewee or a political and musical commentator. In 1984, he also starred in the Cult Classic film Copkiller, where he appeared alongside Harvey Keitel. In the late 2010s, he had a recurring voice role in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (seriously).

In his homeland, Lydon remains as polarizing as he ever was, though the British have grown accustomed to his snarky, uncompromising, yet intelligent remarks about a variety of topics. Some hardcore punks see him as a Sell-Out, especially after appearing in so many TV shows and doing a commercial for butter, but he is considered somewhat of a Magnificent Bastard. The best proof of his national treasure status is the fact that in 2002, he was voted #87 on the 100 Greatest Britons list.

Discography:

Sex Pistols

• Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols (1977)

Public Image Ltd.

• First Issue (1978)
• Metal Box (1979)
• The Flowers of Romance (1981)
• Commercial Zone (1983)
• This Is What You Want... This Is What You Get (1984)
• Album (1986)
• Happy? (1987)
• 9 (1989)
• That What Is Not (1992)
• This Is PiL (2012)
• What the World Needs Now... (2015)

Solo work

• Psycho's Path (1997)

John Lydon's career provides examples of

• Anarchy Is Chaos: Johnny said:
  Anarchy is mind-games for the middle class. It’s a wonderful philosophy if you've got the spare time to indulge in it. It’s more like French abstract art than reality, because ultimately you would destroy everything. What’s the point of that if you've got nothing to replace it with? Anarchy is a problem. It’s not a solution. But it’s worthy of some thought.
• The Antichrist: "Anarchy in the U.K."
  I am an anti-christ
• The Band Minus the Face: After Lydon left the Sex Pistols the band still went on for a few months, with Sid Vicious as their new lead singer.
• Beware the Nice Ones: The quickest way to get on his jerkass side is to interrupt him (repeatedly) when he's trying to make an uncomfortably honest point. Good Morning Britain found that out firsthand.
• British Teeth: His nickname "Rotten" was inspired by his bad teeth.
• Burning with Anger: He is known for his aggressive shouting and passionate fury during concert performances.
  • "Rise" by Public Image Ltd..
  Anger is an energy ^note  Also the name of his 2014 autobiography.
• Celebrity Is Overrated: Lydon has never felt any reason to show awe or respect to celebrities, just because he is supposed to. Many reporters try to poke him into making outrageous comments about people, but he doesn't always give them what they want. For instance, despite having criticized the Margaret Thatcher government for years Lydon didn't feel the need to celebrate her death in 2013 and even called out other people for doing this. He respects certain musicians for their actual talent or authenticity, rather than loving or hating them just because they are mainstream pop stars.
  • Notably, a case where this appeared Harsher in Hindsight was a televised interview where Lydon mentioned he'd like to "kill Jimmy Savile" because of "seediness that we all know about, but are not allowed to talk about. I know some rumours." He then added that what he said wouldn't be "allowed out", and sure enough, it was cut from the broadcast. The uncut version didn't emerge till 2013, after Savile's death, when it was public knowledge that the rumours Lydon had heard were probably Understatements.
• Cluster F-Bomb: Uses a lot of swear words.
• Country Matters/Last-Second Word Swap: Rotten puts very deliberate and gleeful emphasis on the last syllable of the Sex Pistols song "Pretty Vacant."
• Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Okay, bad man is really stretching it, but despite his "bad boy" image and abrasive demeanour, he clearly loved his parents and especially his mum. Every time he mentioned them during interviews, the bad boy persona evaporated and he became very emotional.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • While Lydon is known to criticize the UK government, he flat out called everyone who was happy about Margaret Thatcher's death (keep in mind some people were dancing on the streets and the song 'Ding Dong the Witch Is Dead!' went up the charts when Thatcher died) insensitive and obnoxious. And just for the record, he himself criticized the Thatcher government. Similarly, for all his criticisms of Queen Elizabeth II, he mourned publicly when she died and tried to stop a reissue of "God Save the Queen" meant to cash in on her passing.
  • Also, his views on anarchy showed this in light of the popular misconception fostered by "Anarchy in the UK":
  Anarchy, frankly — if you take it quite literally — is mind games for the middle class. When you come from desperate poverty, and that's exactly what I come from, you know that nonsenses are not to be tolerated. I'm not sure who gains from chaos, but I know it's not the poor folks in the council flats. The politics of vindictiveness is never, ever anything like a solution.
• Evil Laugh: The very first thing uttered by Rotten on their very first single.
  Rrrrrrrrright... NOW, mwahahahahahahaaaaa! on "Anarchy in the U.K."
• Free-Handed Performer: He generally performs as an animated instrument-free singer on stage. On albums, however, he performs keyboards, guitars and various percussions. His first solo album, Psycho's Path, was mainly recorded by him.
• The Gadfly: Lydon has always been a non-conformist. Before becoming a member of the Sex Pistols he was a geeky child who like Avant-Garde Music bands like Can, Van der Graaf Generator and Captain Beefheart. He wore a Pink Floyd shirt with the words "I Hate" written above the band name, yet he didn't actually hate them^note he later explained that he was a fan of the original, Syd Barrett-era, band and that the "I Hate" was him being The Gadfly against those who put them up on an unassailable pedestal. His eclectic musical tastes which threatened to make him persona non grata in the Punk scene became more pronounced when he formed PiL.
  • Insult Backfire: Pink Floyd's David Gilmour had no problem with it, since the Floyd were "a target of substance" and that Lydon couldn't have gotten as much out of an "I Hate Yes" shirt.
• Good Is Not Soft: His heart is in the right place but he's infamous for his abrasiveness, temper and foul mouth.
• Hidden Depths: In the documentary The Filth and the Fury, Johnny Rotten showed his softer side when describing the sad saga of Sid and Nancy and Sid Vicious's downward spiral and death.
• Implausible Hair Color: Often has bright green, orange or red haircuts.
• Jerkass: Just watch any interview with Johnny Rotten/Lydon. His passive-aggressive interview style often makes it unclear whether he is angry at the interviewer or not. Usually he makes good points, but is often frustrated with the inane or poorly informed questions asked of him.
  • Jerkass Has a Point: Often, Johnny uses his abrasiveness to good use. Agree with him or not, at least he often has something intelligent to say...
• Knight in Sour Armor: He's stated that does have hope for humanity. Not a lot, but still. More specifically, a lot of the vitriol he has for politicians and royalty is from disgust at their apathy towards the working class.
• Lifesaving Misfortune: He was scheduled to fly on Pan Am Flight 103, but he and his wife missed the flight after she failed to pack in time.
• Manly Tears: In The Filth and the Fury, Johnny breaks down crying when discussing Sid Vicious' addiction and death.
• Not Even Bothering with the Accent: He always talks in his local accent.
• The One Thing I Don't Hate About You: He HATED the movie Sid & Nancy and is quick to point out all its inaccuracies and its romanticism of a tragedy. However, he did like Gary Oldman's performance as Sid and praised him as an actor^note funnily enough, Oldman dislikes punk and absolutely hates Sid And Nancy to this day, often saying how his performance in the movie was purely a case of Money, Dear Boy.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Most people know him as "Johnny Rotten" rather than "John Lydon".
• Pop-Cultural Osmosis: He is still recognized around the world as Johnny Rotten, the "former Sex Pistol", even though he was only part of the band for 14 months and has been recording under his own name since 1978! Similarly he is also the most famous punk musician alongside Sid Vicious, yet most of the music he made throughout his career is actually closer to Alternative Rock, Avant-Garde Music and Post-Punk.
• Protest Song: His songs are meant to shake people awake out of their conformity and frequently target all echelons of our society. At the same time, he absolutely refused any suggestions that the Pistols had a political axe to grind:
  "There was no vicious undertone in us, no nasty edge. And certainly none of the deadpan, dreary political opinions like The Clash wallowed in. We lived in the real world. We actually did come from council flats. We knew the consequences of socialism."
• Refuge in Audacity: Lydon has made a career out of doing and saying exactly what he wants, and not giving a toss what people think of him.
• Stage Name: Johnny Rotten.
• Take That!: Rotten is known for his verbal insults and attacks at people, celebrities, and institutions.
• Thousand-Yard Stare: His famous stare is a result of meningitis. He has to do this to focus on what he is looking at.
• Trrrilling Rrrs: Famously did this during "Anarchy in the U.K." and "God Save the Queen."
• True Companions: He and Sid Vicious were close friends and he downright hates Vicious' mother for being a narcissistic parent who got him addicted to heroin, exemplified by Sid's mother giving him heroin for his 16th or 17th birthday.

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