John Lydon

John Lydon

John Lydon, also known as Johnny Rotten, is a singer from Holloway, United Kingdom. He is associated with punk, post-punk and alternative dance, and is known for his work with the Sex Pistols, Public Image Ltd and Pigface.

Early career and the Sex Pistols

Lydon begins his music career as the lead singer of the Sex Pistols, the punk band with which he first becomes widely known. He is identified with the Sex Pistols through the name Johnny Rotten.

Public Image Ltd and later work

After the Sex Pistols break up in 1978, Lydon forms Public Image Ltd, also called PiL. The group lasts for fourteen years, with Lydon as the only consistent member. In 2010 he reassembles PiL and tours Europe, also returning to the United States for the first time in 18 years.

Solo work and other projects

In 1997, Lydon releases a solo album, Psycho's Path. He writes all of the songs on the album and plays almost all of the instruments himself. Outside music, he writes Rotten - No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs, appears on the British reality television series I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!, hosts the short-lived VH1 programme Rotten TV, co-stars in the film Copkiller with Harvey Keitel, and presents the minute-long syndicated US radio feature It's a Rotten Day, in which he offers commentary on the day's headlines.