“They’re trying to get away with karaoke”: John Lydon slams the Sex Pistols for replacing him with Frank Carter
Last year, the Sex Pistols burst back onto the punk scene – however, the gang opted for a less ‘rotten’ line-up. Swapping out John “Johnny Rotten” Lydon in favour of Frank Carter, the new unit has lined up a series of dates, with the Pistols headlining this year’s Teenage Cancer Trust concert at the Royal Albert Hall, performing at both Boomtown and Download Festival, and planning a tour of the US. However, Lydon isn’t happy about it.
Speaking to the i Paper, Lydon admits that he was annoyed when he heard Steve Jones, Paul Cook and Glen Matlock were touring without him. “When I first heard that the Sex Pistols were touring this year without me it pissed me off,” he admits. “It annoyed me. I just thought, ‘they’re absolutely going to kill all that was good with the Pistols by eliminating the point and the purpose of it all.’”
READ MORE: “With them Marshall 800s? There honestly ain’t a lot to it”: Steve Jones reveals the secrets of his Sex Pistols guitar tone
Lydon believes that fans will get no more than “karaoke” if they attend a modern Sex Pistols show. “I didn’t write those words lightly,” he says. “They’re trying to trivialise the whole show to get away with karaoke.”
“In the long term I think you’ll see who has the value and who doesn’t,” he adds. “I’ve never sold my soul to make a dollar. It’s the Catholic in me – that guilt I don’t want to trip… If something challenges your heart and your soul and your mind and your sense of purity of what is right and wrong in the world, then just say no.”
Elsewhere, NME got the scoop on Lydon’s feelings towards Frank Carter. Speaking on the new episode of Does Rock N Roll Kill Braincells?!, which drops tomorrow, Lydon explains he has no ill feelings towards the new frontman. He does, however, share his condolences. After all, Carter has to tour with his old bandmates. “The poor sausage!” he cries. “Does he know what he’s walked into?”
“Good on him, what a great fucking opportunity!” he says. “But there’s something darker going on behind it. It’s almost malicious in its intent. And it’s karaoke – that’s all it will ever be. Bloody hell, The Three Stooges in that band have had how many years to write some new songs? That’s what I’d like to hear!”
So, Lydon isn’t out for Carter’s blood – and we’re sure Carter will be pleased to hear that, considering how buzzing he has been about his new role. At last year’s Download Festival, Carter expressed his excitement in an NME interview.
“Glen [Matlock, bassist] called me and said, ‘Look, we want to do this charity gig for Bush Hall, how would you feel about coming down and singing some songs?’,” he recalled. “I didn’t really think anything of it [at first]… [then he said] ‘No, we’re doing Never Mind The Bollocks. I thought: ‘Oh fuck!’”
“I promise you one thing, there will be nothing left of me after [these shows],” he vowed. “I’m going to leave every single ounce of me on that stage because that’s what the record deserves. I’m nervous because they’re big, big shoes to fill, but I’m just going to do my best and try and make them all proud.”
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It seems like Lydon is the only person feeling negatively about the whole affair. In another NME interview, guitarist Steve Jones revealed that the band had faced barely any backlash over their new line-up.
“You think you’re gonna get a negative thing by doing [it without Lydon], but I’m surprised – there was no backlash whatsoever,” he said. “There was a few die-hards on Instagram, but they hadn’t even seen us. They just can’t see it without John, which I get, but even the ones that came out of curiosity were into it after a couple of songs.”
While the Sex Pistols have plans to tour the US and hit a number of festivals this year, Lydon will be embarking on his own tour. Public Image Ltd will be embarking on a UK tour in May, running until August.
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