Publisher's Synopsis
The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although they initially lasted just 2 1/2 years, producing only 4 singles; Anarchy In The UK, God Save The Queen, Pretty Vacant and Holidays In The Sun & 1 studio album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols. They've been called one of the most influential acts in the history of popular music, having initiated the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspired many later punk & alternative rock musicians. The first incarnation of the Sex Pistols was singer Johnny Rotten (John Lydon), lead guitarist Steve Jones, drummer Paul Cook and bassist Glen Matlock, who was replaced by Sid Vicious (John Ritchie) early in 1977. Under the management of Malcolm McLaren, a visual artist, performer, clothes designer and boutique owner, the band provoked controversies that generated massive publicity. Their concerts often ran into difficulties with organisers and local authorities, public appearances often having ended in mayhem. Their 1977 single "God Save the Queen", attacking social conformity and deference to the Crown, in the year of the Queen's Silver Jubilee, sparked what one commentator described as the "last and greatest outbreak of pop-based moral pandemonium". Subjects addressed in their frequently obscene lyrics included the music industry, consumerism, abortion, violence, apathy, anarchy, fascism, the British Royal Family and the Holocaust. In January 1978, at the end of a turbulent tour of the United States, Rotten left the Sex Pistols, having announced their break-up. Over the next several months, the three other band members recorded songs for McLaren's film version of the Sex Pistols' story, The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle. Vicious died of a heroin overdose in February 1979, following his arrest for the alleged murder of his girlfriend, Nancy Spungen. In 1996, Rotten, Jones, Cook and Matlock reunited for the Filthy Lucre Tour then since 2002, they have staged further reunion shows and tours. On 24 February 2006, the Sex Pistols-the four original, surviving members and Sid Vicious-were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but they refused to attend the ceremony, calling the museum "a piss stain".
