PISTOLS can Rotten hell

The icon of punk brands the group where he made his name a 'karaoke' outfit and reveals he came close to suicide after his wife Nora died

- BY JOHN DINGWALL

PUNK legend John Lydon has hit out at the Sex Pistols for performing in Scotland without him next week and branded them a mere “karaoke” band.

Lydon, who fronted the original line-up from 1975 to 1978 as Johnny Rotten, says the original members don't want him, even though he helped write their iconic 70s hits such as Anarchy in the UK and God Save the Queen.

The reformed Sex Pistols are playing a huge gig in Glasgow's Bellahouston Park next Saturday with thousands set to pogo along to their biggest hits.

But in an exclusive interview with The Record, Lydon, 69, fumed: “If you're into karaoke, I recommend them.

“It's a shame they don't want me or anything to do with me. They love deriding me but it’s my words they're f***ing singing.

“It's my mentality and my approach and my outlook on life and yet they're abandoning the cause. It's very sad.

“All the Sex Pistols mock bands are now being put out of a career because of this lot, who I recommend get on a cruise ship called Uranus Travels. That would be the best place for them.”

Lydon took the other members to court in 2021 but lost his bid to stop Sex Pistols music being used in a TV drama, Pistol, directed by Danny Boyle.

The singer, who is heading to Scotland with his own band, PiL, in July said: ‘I'm gonna try and get a shaman to lay a curse a month before I get there.