Historical Figure
John Lydon
b. 1956
British punk rock singer (born 1956)
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"I'd Like to Kill Jimmy Savile -- BBC Interview" — 1978
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Biography
John Joseph Lydon, also known by his former stage name Johnny Rotten, is a British-born singer, songwriter, author, and television personality. He was the lead vocalist of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols, which was active from 1975 to 1978, and again for various revivals during the 1990s and 2000s. He is also the lead vocalist of post-punk band Public Image Ltd (PiL), which he founded and fronted from 1978 until 1993, and again since 2009.
Timeline
The story of John Lydon, told in moments.
Auditioned for the Sex Pistols by lip-syncing to Alice Cooper's "Eighteen" on the jukebox at Malcolm McLaren's shop. McLaren gave him the name Johnny Rotten for his decaying green teeth.
"God Save the Queen" hit number two on the BBC chart during the Silver Jubilee. Many believed it actually reached number one and was blocked. The BBC banned it from airplay. Lydon was stabbed twice by angry patriots.
Left the Sex Pistols after their final show in San Francisco. Told the audience, "Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?" Founded Public Image Ltd the same year. Moved from punk to experimental post-punk.
In Their Own Words (20)
Almost killed me, nothing to be laughed at. But oddly enough it’s something that made me. Without that, I probably wouldn’t be where I am today, so thank God I almost died. The pain I had to endure of losing my memory and forgetting who I was — that’s always still in me. I never explained it until the book, and the songs — what agony that was for me. My greatest sense of achievement was conquering that.
About suffering spinal meningitis., 2015
It’s a family house.
About his house in ., 2015
Are you really going to hand over the White House to a real estate agent? [...] I want a wig just like that one.
About Donald Trump., 2015
I’ve not done any of this for superstardom, quite the opposite. I threw away the rock star mantle. And for that, there’s resentment too: ‘How dare he, how dare he.’
2015
I wanted them to see the gloriousness of the California, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah desert. So every chance we got, we stopped the bus and just absorbed that dead heat beauty and that terrain.
2015
Artifacts (15)
Anger is an Energy: Mein Leben unzensiert. Die Autobiografie von Johnny Rotten
Die grösste Ikone des Punk zieht Bilanz John Lydon hat sich einen Spitzenplatz als eine der meistbeachteten Ikonen der Musikgeschichte gesichert. Unter dem Künstlernamen Johnny Rotten führte er die...
the saying is that surely she [Queen Mary] is bewitched
arriage seems to have stemmed from passion rather than calculation; the English ambassador Nicholas Throckmorton stated "the saying is that surely she [Queen Mary] is bewitched", adding that the...
it is as goodly a child as I have seen of her age, and as like to live.
adler, saw the infant at Linlithgow Palace in March 1543, unwrapped by her nurse Jean Sinclair, and wrote, "it is as goodly a child as I have seen of her age, and as like to live." As Mary was an...
Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs : the Authorized Autobiography, Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols
"Much more than just a rock autobiography, this book is an oral history of punk : at once angry, witty, honest, poignant and crackling with energy. Malcolm McLaren, Sid Vicious, Chrissie Hynde, Billy...
Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs: La autobiografía autorizada del cantante de los Sex Pistols y PiL
El libro que tienes en las manos no es una historia del punk. La autobiografía de John Lydon, cantante de los Sex Pistols, revela más bien la idea de algo que pudo ser y no fue; los mimbres de una...
I COULD BE WRONG, I COULD BE RIGHT (AUTOGRAPHED, HAND-NUMBERED, BOXED, LIMITED EDITION).
He's a legend and an icon. John Lydon changed the face of music and sparked a cultural revolution. The frontman and lyricist of the Sex Pistols and Public Image Ltd (PiL) caused a political earthquake...
from the very first day they met, my son and she got on as well together as if t...
et 11 inches or 1.80 m), while Henry II's son and heir, Francis, stuttered and was unusually short. Henry commented: "from the very first day they met, my son and she got on as well together as if...
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