John Lydon expanded on his Sex Pistols bandmates' lack of contact after his wife Nora's 2023 death by detailing decades of feuds, from a 2021 lawsuit over the *Pistol* miniseries to acrimonious past tours. The punk frontman firmly rules out reunions as the band continues without him.
In a recent The Times interview, John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten) not only noted the absence of outreach from bandmates Steve Jones, Paul Cook, and Glen Matlock following Nora's death—as previously reported—but also delved into the deep-seated conflicts that have defined the group.
A key flashpoint was the 2021 legal battle when Jones and Cook sued Lydon to allow Danny Boyle's Pistol miniseries, based on Jones's memoirs, despite Lydon's opposition. The others prevailed via a 'majority rule agreement,' overriding his veto. Lydon called the series 'terrible,' likening it to something about 'the Partridge Family' and lamenting his exclusion.
Since then, Jones, Cook, and Matlock have reformed the Sex Pistols with Frank Carter on vocals for tours, while Lydon rejected reunion talk outright: 'No.' Historical rifts run deep: During a 2008 reunion tour, Jones recalled wanting to 'break his own wrist' to escape early, saying he 'didn’t ever want to fucking hang out with [Lydon] again.' Matlock labeled Lydon's behavior 'childish.' In 2017, Cook nixed a 50th anniversary tour of Never Mind the Bollocks, stating, 'We wouldn’t want to do it... And I don’t want to do it with John anyway,' with Jones adding he had 'no friendship' with Lydon since 2008.
Looking forward, the reformed Sex Pistols and Lydon's Public Image Ltd. have non-overlapping European dates next summer, with no U.S. tours announced.