How many albums did the Sex Pistols sell?
Icons of Britain’s early punk rock scene, the advent of the Sex Pistols changed the country’s music scene beyond recognition. Manufactured by music mogul and clothes salesman Malcolm McLaren, the band formed in 1976, quickly rising to the forefront of the UK’s punk revolution. Despite their undeniable influence on the music industry, the Johnny Rotten-fronted band only ever released one studio album, though it did prove to be a smash hit.
The Sex Pistols remain a very divisive band both within mainstream music and the punk scene itself. Their penchant for anarchy and – heaven forfend – swearing on national television made the group the enemy of parents and authority figures everywhere. On the other hand, the manufactured nature of the band – and their caricature-esque appearance – meant that they were one of the least authentic punk groups of the period and had a major influence on the devolving of punk into a conformist fashion sense.
Regardless of their punk credibility, or lack thereof, the band did manage to break the underground music scene into the mainstream consciousness. Their debut single ‘Anarchy in the UK’ just made it into the top 40 singles charts in December of 1976, a month following its initial release. Following up on the success of their debut with a stunning indictment of Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee, ‘God Save the Queen’, the group managed to reach the dizzying heights of number two – although it is often theorised that it was kept off the top spot due to its perceived offensive content.
These early singles paved the way for a string of top ten hits that would follow the group from 1977’s ‘Pretty Vacant’ to 1979’s ‘C’mon Everybody’, recorded after frontman Johnny Rotten had left the group to form Public Image Limited. Predictably, therefore, when the band’s debut studio album Nevermind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols was released in 1977, it spent two weeks at the top of the album charts.
Seeing the band’s original bassist replaced for the frankly substandard stylings of Sid Vicious, who had previously played in groups with the likes of Keith Levine and Viv Albertine, later of The Slits, the album dealt with controversial topics such as abortion, unemployment, global conflict and, of course, anarchy. While the stand-out tracks from the record had already been released as singles, newly released songs such as ‘EMI’ cemented the band’s desire to break down the complacency of the music industry.
The success of the album cannot be overstated, selling upwards of 125,000 copies within a week of its release. Remaining in the album charts for a staggering 48 weeks, the success of Nevermind the Bollocks was long-lasting. The enduring success has been exacerbated by regular reissues, with the band’s music seeming to crop up any time the UK is experiencing a celebration of royalty or any kind of social rebellion.
At the time of writing, the album is said to have sold over 1,747,130 copies worldwide, with 600,000 sold in the UK alone, making it a double-platinum release.
Why did the Sex Pistols only release one album?
Despite the lasting relevance of the punk genre and the many subgenres and niche music scenes it spawned, the original wave of new wave punk was incredibly short-lived. The prevailing attitude of ‘here’s three chords, go start a band’, while revolutionary, meant that there was little room for musical development. The only punk groups who managed to remain relevant following their punk beginnings were groups like The Clash, X-Ray Spex and The Slits, who incorporated new elements and influences into their unique sound.
The Sex Pistols, on the other hand, witnessed very little in the way of development – unless you count replacing your bassist for somebody who cannot play bass. Therefore, Nevermind the Bollocks seemed to be all the group could muster up. The band split up at the beginning of 1978, shortly after the album’s release, with Johnny Rotten exiting the group during a tour of the USA.
The Pistols did actually release another album of material the following year, The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle featured new material recorded by the group (sans Rotten) for the upcoming film of the same name. That album received a great deal of commercial success at the time despite the lacklustre quality of many of the tracks and the film itself.
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