The Sex Pistols Punk icon John Lydon aka Johnny Rotten turns 68
Lydon is still regarded as one of the most rebellious and inspiring Punk Rockers of all time
The Sex Pistols Punk icon John Lydon aka Johnny Rotten turns 68
John Lydon aka Johnny Rotten was born John Joseph Lydon on January 31st, 1956 in London, England. Lydon became popular as the lead singer of the infamous and iconic Punk Rock band Sex Pistols during the late 1970’s. Lydon’s rebellious image and fashion style led to him being asked to become the singer of the Sex Pistols by their manager, Malcolm McLaren, who knew he would be the ideal frontman for the band after spotting him in 1975 at the SEX store in London, wearing a Pink Floyd t-shirt where Lydon wrote “I Hate” before the name of the band. 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. After the Sex Pistols disbanded in 1978, Lydon went on to found his own band, Public Image Ltd aka PiL, which was far more experimental in nature, and had what would later be considered a Post-Punk sound rather than raw Rock music. John Lydon married Nora Forster, a publishing heiress from Germany, in 1979 with whom he remains married. For some years, he was the stepfather of Forster’s daughter Ari Up, only 5 years younger than him, who had been the lead singer in the post-punk band The Slits before her death in 2010. Despite the 1970’s menacing and rebellious Punk image, Lydon is a man who always had been open to all types of art and literature, he is a big fan of Oscar Wilde since he studied his works at the school and in addition to his work as a singer-songwriter, Lydon is also a visual artist. His drawings, paintings, and other related works have featured prominently in the works of PiL and his solo career throughout the years, the most recent example being the cover to “This is PiL”. In 2006, Lydon was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Sex Pistols, but the band declined to attend the ceremony or acknowledge the induction and published a letter stating that fact. But times does changes, and in 1977, who could predict that in In 2002, Johnny Rotten was to be named among the 100 Greatest Britons following a UK-wide vote!
Look back at the Sex Pistols performing “God Save The Queen” on this 1977 music video
Look back at the 1978 music video for “Public Image” by PiL
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