Bio

Born, 31 January 1956, London, England

Born to Irish parents, and the eldest of three brothers, John Lydon grew up in Holloway, North London – present site of the Arsenal Stadium – in a small flat where his family shared an outdoor toilet with the public. John and family later moved to a council flat in Finsbury Park when he was around 11 years old.

Aged seven he contracted a serious bout of meningitis which put him in and out of comas for almost a year, wiping most of his early memories and affecting his eyesight. On returning to school he was painfully shy and labeled a “dummy”. The experience only made him stronger and more determined.

Before John could complete his O Levels he was expelled from Catholic secondary school for daring to question teachers and refusing to toe the line. He attended Hackney & Stoke Newington College of Further Education, then later Kingsway College, to finish his exams. Where he met Sid Vicious.

It is a well-worn story that John was spotted wearing an “I Hate Pink Floyd” t-shirt and invited to audition as singer for a fledgling band that had been pestering Malcolm McLaren to manage them. Although John had no previous musical experience, less than six months later the Sex Pistols made their live debut at St Martins College of Art, November 6th 1975.

On account of his decaying teeth John was re-christened “Johnny Rotten”. His scintillating vocal delivery and forthright lyrics – matched with the band’s power and energy – soon saw the Pistols build up a word-of-mouth following, at the forefront of what would later become known as “Punk”.

While appearing on the ‘Today’ TV show in December 1976, John was goaded into swearing by presenter Bill Grundy. Not for the first or last time, John didn’t back down. After signing to Virgin Records in 1977, the Pistols released John’s alternative National Anthem ‘God Save The Queen’ during the Queen’s Silver Jubilee celebrations. John was attacked in the street and slashed several times.

When the Sex Pistols split in January 1978, John quickly moved onto Public Image Limited (PiL) – a new beginning. Lydon’s unique vocal style and perceptive lyrics remained, however PiL were nothing like the Sex Pistols: there were no rules. PiL continued in one form or another through decades, releasing numerous albums and scoring some unlikely hits along the way. Always chameleons, bar Lydon, the line-up would constantly change; as would the style and content of the music.

Outside of PiL, John has released several solo collaborations, most notably the groundbreaking rock/rap crossover ‘World Destruction’ with Afrika Bambaataa in 1984, and the pioneering ‘Open Up’ with dance duo Leftfield in 1993. In more recent decades John has brought quality TV to the masses – ‘Rotten TV’ for VH1, a show-stealing turn on ‘I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here’, ‘John Lydon’s Megabugs’ for Discovery Channel, and nature specials for Channel 5, among others.

1986 saw John reclaim the name “Rotten” from Malcolm McLaren and win a deal returning control of the Sex Pistols’ assets to the band. He published his best-selling autobiography ‘Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs’ in 1994, and in 1996 reunited with the original Sex Pistols for the ‘Filthy Lucre’ world tour – though as he’s put it, his body and mind is the Sex Pistols, but his heart and soul is PiL.

December 2009 saw the long-awaited return of Public Image Limited for seven live UK dates – their first shows in 17 years – and the band have toured worldwide ever since. ‘This is PiL’ (2012) and ‘What The World Needs Now…’ (2015) followed, both self-released on the band’s own PiL Official label. A second, complete autobiography, ‘Anger is an Energy: My Life Uncensored’, was published in 2014, followed by ‘I Could Be Wrong, I Could Be Right’ in 2020.

PiL released their eleventh studio album, ‘End of World’, in 2023 – the same year John’s wife of over 40 years, Nora Forster, sadly passed away, followed shortly after by his best friend and manager, John “Rambo” Stevens. In October 2013, Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI) honoured John with their highest award for song-writing, the BMI Icon Award.