The former Sex Pistols soloist ditched his old bandmates and now ends up at the same festival with them

The latest twist in the dispute came last week, when the big US festival Riot Fest announced that it had added both the Sex Pistols in its current line-up and John Lydon’s band Public Image Limited to its program.

The bands will perform at a festival organized in Chicago in September.

Alun The Sex Pistols, originally active between 1975 and 1978, have returned to concerts several times after their breakup. Members of the original line-up have participated Steve Jones, Paul Cook and Glen Matlock. John Lydon was last soloist on the 2008 tour, on which the band also performed in Helsinki.

Lydon later fell out with other band members. He did not accept the story about the early stages of the band Pistol-drama series and wanted to ban the use of Sex Pistols’ music in the series. The case was eventually settled through the courts and Lydon lost.

In the year 2024 Jones, Cook and Matlock appeared together with Frank Carter for the first time. The band played Sex Pistols’ debut album in its entirety. It has toured ever since as the Sex Pistols featuring Frank Carter. The band was seen last summer in Finland at the Porispere festival and in July they are one of the main performers at Ilosaarirock in Joensuu.

John Lydon has commented on the current Sex Pistols line-up with sour words. He considers the actions of his former bandmates malicious and the whole project childish garbage. He has compared Carter to a karaoke singer.

Lydon has also said that he has not been in contact with the other members of the Sex Pistols for many years.

The audience and critics have considered Pistols and Carter’s joint gigs successful. 42-year-old Carter, who previously performed with his own band Rattlesnakes, has received praise for his frenetic performance. The band’s oldest members are 70 years old.