Sex Pistols’ Steve Jones hasn’t spoken to John Lydon in 16 Years
Being in a band is no easy task. Being cooped up in a tour bus with people that you don’t get along with, travelling across the world, and spending extended periods of time locked in recording booths together hardly sounds like a life of fun – particularly if one of those people is Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon, better known as Johnny Rotten. Now, guitarist Steve Jones has revealed that he hasn’t spoken to Lydon in 16 years.
The Sex Pistols were first thrown together by manager Malcolm McLaren back in 1975, leading them to become one of the defining figures of the UK’s first wave of punk rock. Even during their peak, however, the personal relationships within the band’s line-up were never particularly harmonious. As a result, the group did not last very long before throwing in the towel in 1978 after releasing one studio album.
After the initial demise of the Sex Pistols, both Jones and Lydon went their separate ways, with the latter forming Public Image Ltd. Nonetheless, the pair did cross paths a few more times over the years, most notably during the Sex Pistols’ reunion shows in 1996 and 2007. Seemingly, though, those shows were the last time Jones saw or even spoke to his old bandmate.
“I haven’t spoken to him in years. 2008 was the last time I spoke to him,” Jones shared during a recent appearance on the Rockonteurs podcast. “We did 30 shows around Europe. We did a bunch of festivals and all that, Japan, Australia. We ended up at Hammersmith Odeon, Hammersmith Apollo, and then we had one more show in the Basque country, and that was it.”
Although that extensive reunion tour was, for the most part, a huge success, Jones expressed that he had no more appetite for touring once it had finished. “I was done after that, no more,” he said, “Too much. Too old, too much, not enough done.” So, the Pistols once again went their separate ways, and it seems as though the rest of the band have had no contact with Lydon since.
Jones might have felt he was “too old” for the 2008 tour, but the Pistols have taken on numerous reunion dates this year, in 2024. For this tour, however, the band recruited Frank Carter of Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes to take on the vacant position of lead singer. “It’s a different vibe. Night and day,” Jones said of the current tour, adding that Carter “doesn’t try to be John. It’s just fun.”
After a string of successful summer dates, Sex Pistols and Frank Carter are set to continue touring into 2025, with appearances already scheduled at summer festivals like Download. Meanwhile, Lydon is still performing with Public Image Ltd and making headlines for his increasingly right-wing outlook on the world—including his outspoken support of president-elect Donald Trump.
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