Johnny Rotten Caricature

Johnny Rotten Caricature, front man for the Sex Pistols in London, 1978 age 22 a few months after the group disbanded.

John Joseph Lydon, aka “Johnny Rotten” got his stage name from poor dental hygiene during his teenage years in London.

In 1975, Lydon’s rebellious image and fashion style led to his being asked to become the singer of the Sex Pistols by their manager, Malcolm McLaren. With the Sex Pistols (with Steve Jones, Glen Matlock and Paul Cook), he penned singles including “Anarchy in the U.K.,” “God Save the Queen,” and “Holidays in the Sun,” the content of which precipitated what one commentator described as the “last and greatest outbreak of pop-based moral pandemonium” in Britain. The band caused a nationwide uproar in much of the media, and Lydon was seen as a figurehead of the burgeoning punk movement. Despite their controversial lyrics and style at the time, they are now regarded as one of the most influential acts in the history of popular music.

During this time, tensions between Lydon and bassist Glen Matlock arose. Matlock quit and as a replacement, Lydon recommended his school friend John Simon Ritchie, a.k.a. Sid Vicious. Although Ritchie was an incompetent bassist, McLaren agreed that he had the look the band wanted: pale, emaciated, spike-haired, with ripped clothes and a perpetual sneer.
Vicious’ chaotic relationship with girlfriend Nancy Spungen, and his worsening heroin addiction, caused a great deal of friction among the band members, particularly with Lydon, whose sarcastic remarks often exacerbated the situation. Sid Vicious died in 1979 after overdosing on heroin.

After the Sex Pistols disbanded in 1978, Lydon went on to found his own band, Public Image Ltd, which was far more experimental in nature and described in a 2005 NME review as “arguably the first post-rock group.” Although never as controversial or commercially successful as the Sex Pistols, the band produced eight albums and a string of singles, including “Public Image”, “Death Disco”, and “Rise”.

Neil Young mentions Johnny Rotten in verse 2 of his song “My, My, Hey, Hey”.

Lydon married Nora Forster, a publishing heiress from Germany, in 1979 and have been married for nearly 40 years, living between homes in Los Angeles and London.