There are several versions of where the name Johnny rotten came from. Lydon himself asserts that it was bestowed by Pistols guitarist Steve Jones on account of his teeth, which were green at the time he joined the band. As Johnny Rotten; Lydons performing persona was sneering, snidy and sarcastic, yet with an intelligent underpinning of dissillusionment with the political, social, and musical status quo; while McLaren had vague ideas about provoking the public it was Lydons attitude and lyrics that provided the direction, as he sang about 'Anarchy In The UK' and mocked the Queen herself in 'God Save The Queen'. Such political heresies got the band attacked in the streets of London. Lydon was stabbed in the hand in June 1977 by a gang of angry pro-royalists.
The Pistols quickly spiralled out of control; Sid Vicious's herion addiction, plus McLarens glaring mismangement, took their toll on the band members. Lydon became increasingly dissatisfied and frustrated, essentially alone in his criticism of McLaren, and tensions between him and the rest of the group escalated. When the band broke up after the disasterous San Francisco gig of their 1978 american tour, John made his way back to England, where he put together Public Image Limited under his real name later that year.
Lydons taste in music had always run towards the eclectic and experimental - Can, Captain Beefheart, reggae and dub, but Public Image Limited (PiL) gave him the chance to put them all together. Early PiL albums Metal Box and The Flowers Of Romance were highly experimental, yet successful commercially in England, even in spite of the backlash from 'punk purists'. As the bands personnel shifted, Lydon directed their sound towards a more accessible guitar heavy dance rock on records like Album and Happy?, which helped earn the group a following amongst American alternative rock fans during the mid and late 80's - again in spite of carping from those who preferred the groups more challenging early efforts.
The most recent PiL album was released in 1992 - That What Is Not. John published his autobiography in 1994 under the title Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs, and has released a single with Leftfield - Open Up. He announced a different direction in 1996, when he confounded expectations by reuniting with the original Pistols lineup to play a series of summer tour dates which resulted in the Filthy Lucre Live album.1997 finally saw the release of Johns first solo album, the excellent - Psychos Path;1999 saw the release of a 4 CD PiL box set and 2000 saw the tell all documentary of the Pistols story 'The Filth and The Fury'. - 2002 three new releases (GSTQ single, Jubilee and a 3 CD set) a one off(?)concert was attended by approximately 25,000 people on 27th July and from the reviews I've heard, they blew their fans away, with a fantastic set and party like atmosphere. A John Lydon bio-pic is in the works and I suspect much, much more...stay tuned!
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