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Quick Facts
- NAME: John Lydon
- OCCUPATION: Singer
- BIRTH DATE: January 31, 1956 (Age: 57)
- EDUCATION: Hackney and Kingsway Princeton College, Sir William of York Catholic School
- PLACE OF BIRTH: London, England, United Kingdom
- Full Name: John Joseph Lydon
- AKA: Johnny Rotten
- ZODIAC SIGN: Aquarius
Best Known For
John Lydon, a.k.a. Johnny Rotten, was the lead singer and front man for the English punk rock band the Sex Pistols.
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Play NowJohn Lydon. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 09:57, May 25, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/john-lydon-20882895.
John Lydon. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/john-lydon-20882895 [Accessed 25 May 2013].
"John Lydon." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 25 2013, 09:57 http://www.biography.com/people/john-lydon-20882895.
"John Lydon," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/john-lydon-20882895 [accessed May 25, 2013].
"John Lydon," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/john-lydon-20882895 (accessed May 25, 2013).
John Lydon [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 25] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/john-lydon-20882895.
John Lydon, http://www.biography.com/people/john-lydon-20882895 (last visited May 25, 2013).
John Lydon. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/john-lydon-20882895. Accessed May 25, 2013.
Following the release of its album, the Pistols, which had replaced Matlock with Lydon's old friend Sid Vicious, headed to America for a series of concert dates. But the tour quickly collapsed, as did the group, when Lydon abruptly walked off the stage in the middle of a show at the Winterland in San Francisco in January 1978. "Ever get the feeling you been cheated?" Lydon asked the audience, before exiting.
With that,
Contents
the Sex Pistols were through.
Later Career
Following the demise of the Sex Pistols, Lydon, who went back to his original name, started a new group, Public Image Limited (PiL). While it never recreated the cultural force the Sex Pistols had managed, the band has endured for more than three decades.
A long, drawn-out litigation fight with McLaren finally allowed Lydon to use the Rotten moniker in 1986. In 1994 Lydon published his Sex Pistols autobiography, Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs.
In addition to his recording work, Lydon has also kept busy with a string of television projects, Rotten TV for VH1 (2000), Discovery's John Lydon's Megabugs (2006), and a pair of nature specials: John Lydon Goes Ape and John Lydon's Shark Attack. In 1996, to the delight of Sex Pistols fans, Lydon reunited with Jones, Cook and Matlock for a new tour. They released an album, Filthy Lucre Live, the following year. A documentary about the band, The Filth and the Fury, directed by Julien Temple, debuted in 2000.
Lydon resides in Los Angeles with his longtime wife, Nora.
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London Punk- Cultural Icons: 1970s
View groupFollowing the "Swinging London" era of the 1960s, a new group of cultural icons arose. The 1970s saw the emergence of the punk rock movement, built upon the wave of psychedelic and folk rock music introduced in the '60s. In the post-hippie era of the early '70s, rock 'n' roll had a new glam image, pioneered by outrageously dressed rockers like David Bowie and Marc Bolan. Soon other acts followed, most notably young performers like Siouxsie Sioux and groups like T.Rex and The Clash. The music of the '70s inspired fashion as well, in particular designer Vivienne Westwood, whose punk designs for the Sex Pistols helped define the decade's London style. Biography.com looks at the various icons who defined London in the '70s.
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