John Lydon says he'll never return to "woke" Sex Pistols and is "shocked by how awful" their gigs are with Frank Carter

2 April 2025, 17:53 | Updated: 2 April 2025, 18:28

John Lydon with Sex Pistols' Glen Matlock, Steve Jones with Frank Carter. Picture: Gus Stewart/Redferns/Getty, Gus Stewart/Redferns/Getty

By Jenny Mensah

The former Sex Pistols frontman has been outspoken on his views about the band and their current touring line-up.

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John Lydon has said he would never rejoin the Sex Pistols and has slammed their performances in their current line-up.

The punk icons have recently stormed back into the limelight, delivering live performances with original guitarist Steve Jones, bassist Glen Matlock and drummer Paul Cook joining forces with Frank Carter of Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes.

However, Lydon has spoken out about his former bandmates and commented on their return to the stage.

As reported by The Independent, when asked if he'd ever rejoin the band, the Anarchy In The UK rocker told PA: “Never, not after what I consider their dirty deeds, let them wallow in Walt Disney woke expectations. They’ve killed the content, or done their best to, and turned the whole thing into a rubbish, childishness, and that’s unacceptable.”

The PiL frontman added: “Sorry, I’m not going to give a helping hand to this any longer, as far as I am concerned, I am the Pistols, and they’re not.”

The punk pioneer was previously engaged in a high-profile court battle against Steve Jones and Paul Cook to stop the band's songs being used in in their 2022 Disney+ series Pistol, but he eventually lost the case.

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However it's not the only axe Lydon has to grind with the Sex Pistols, calling their new-look touring line-up "karaoke" and "awful".

Speaking to Loudersound, he declared: "I’ve been shocked how awful it is. It just seems like they’ve rented a puppet and there it is. It is truly karaoke I think with really mediocre results.

“He doesn’t understand any of those lyrics. He couldn’t possibly, because if he did he wouldn’t be doing it. He’d feel ashamed about the imitating someone else and pretending that original songwriter and ‘Personality of the Year’ award person didn’t exist.”

When Nigel Carr remarked on how "chill" he was being about the reunion, the 69-year-old rocker replied: "Why would I not be?!"

"I had plenty of fear that it was going to be magnificent," he laughed. "I’m well rewarded by the results! I’d never go out and pretend to be somebody else!"

“They’re actually mocking the original content and they’re mellowing it down somewhat. It’s like an ominous omission for any band to be lacking the (original) frontman."

Referring to the legal dispute over the Danny Boyle-directed Pistols series, Lydon also revealed how it caused him strain while his late wife Nora Forster was losing her battle to Alzheimer's and that's why he'd "never ever" do the band any favours.

He added: "Listen, after using Walt Disney’s financial backing to mock me in court, while Nora was dying - and they knew this – that to me is an act of evil I can’t easily forgive. And why should I? I’ll do them no more favours ever again. Never ever."