John Lydon Quotes

John Joseph Lydon , also known by his stage name Johnny Rotten, is an English singer, songwriter and musician. He is best known as the lead singer of the late-1970s British punk band the Sex Pistols, which lasted from 1975 until 1978, and again for various revivals during the 1990s and 2000s. He is also the lead singer of post-punk band Public Image Ltd , which he founded and fronted from 1978 until 1993, and again since 2009. Since 2013, Lydon has held British, Irish and American citizenship.Lydon's outspoken persona, rebellious image and fashion style led to his being asked to become the singer of the Sex Pistols by their manager, Malcolm McLaren. With the Sex Pistols, he penned singles including "Anarchy in the U.K.," "God Save the Queen," "Pretty Vacant" 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. The band scandalised much of the media, and Lydon was seen as a figurehead of the burgeoning punk movement. Despite their controversial lyrics and disrepute at the time, they are now regarded as one of the most influential acts in the history of popular music.After the Sex Pistols disbanded in 1978, Lydon founded his own band, Public Image Ltd, which was far more experimental in nature and described in a 2005 NME review as "arguably the first post-rock group." The band produced eight albums and a string of singles, including "Public Image", "Death Disco", and "Rise", before they went on hiatus in 1993, reforming in 2009. In subsequent years, Lydon has hosted television shows in the UK, US, and Belgium, appeared on I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here! in the UK, appeared in advertisements on UK television promoting a brand of British butter, written two autobiographies, and produced some solo musical work, such as the album Psycho's Path . In 2005, he released a compilation album, The Best of British £1 Notes.

In 2015, there was a revival of a 1980s movement to have Lydon knighted for his achievements with the Sex Pistols, even though he has declined efforts to award him an MBE for his services to music. Q magazine remarked that "somehow he's assumed the status of national treasure". In 2002, he was named among the 100 Greatest Britons following a UK-wide vote. Wikipedia  

✵ 31. January 1956
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John Lydon: 22   quotes 37   likes

Famous John Lydon Quotes

“If you are pissing people off, you know you are doing something right”

Source: Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs

“Ever get the feeling you've been cheated? Good night!”

At the end of the last Sex Pistols concert, Winterland Theater, San Francisco, California (14 January 1978)

“I'm not very good at handling stupid people. I must admit.”

Source: Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs

John Lydon Quotes

“It’s a record that I still can play to this day, and still hear new things.”

The Kate Bush Story (2014)
Context: My favourite album by her is The Dreaming, and I think she produced that one herself. That got a lot of criticism — but I loved it. It was overloaded with textures, and tones and all manner of things. It’s a record that I still can play to this day, and still hear new things.

“Turn the other cheek too often and you get a razor through it.”

Source: [John, Tobler, 1992, NME Rock 'N' Roll Years, 1st, Reed International Books Ltd, London, 303, CN 5585]

“If the Royal Family was going to assassinate someone, they would have gotten rid of me a long time ago.”

On the 2003 panel TV show The Belzer Connection, when asked if there was a conspiracy in the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.

“Would the king of punks be a cliché? Oh, no, vicar.”

Interview with Los Angeles Times, 2015

“It’s a family house.”

About his house in Malibu, California.
Interview with Los Angeles Times, 2015

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