John Lydon

John Lydon (born January 31, 1956, Finsbury Park, London - although according to his autobiography this cannot be confirmed as his birth certificate was lost), also known by the moniker Johnny Rotten (a nickname deriving from the state of his teeth), was the iconoclastic lead singer of the Sex Pistols and Public Image Ltd (PiL). With his leering, swaggering and sarcastic manner he laid down a new template of rebellious youth and band frontman that continues to be imitated today.

His interest in dub music and his post-Sex Pistols work with PiL and artists such as Afrika Bambaataa and Leftfield showed him to be far more musically sophisticated than his Pistols persona suggested.

Today Lydon is a freelance counter-culture journalist in Los Angeles and has reported from events such as the Seattle Riots.

Further reading

Lydon's autobiography- Rotten- No Dogs, No Blacks, No Irish ISBN 031211883X