John Lydon Biography

Auditions after being spotted around the SEX boutique, soon taking the stage name Johnny Rotten.

Lydon, now dubbed "Johnny Rotten", is brought in to audition as a new frontman, Rotten joins, and The Strand is renamed The Sex Pistols (McLaren stating he wanted them to sound like "sexy young assassins")

McLaren's assistant, Bernie Rhodes (soon to be manager of The Clash), spots John Lydon who was then sporting green hair, and torn clothes with the words "I hate" scribbled on his Pink Floyd shirt.

Fronts the Sex Pistols as the band becomes one of the most visible forces in the emerging British punk movement.

Appears with the Sex Pistols on Thames Television's Today programme, where the band's language creates a national media controversy.

Anarchy in the UK gives the Sex Pistols their first Official Singles Chart entry and introduces Lydon's confrontational vocal style nationally.

Sings God Save the Queen, which reaches number two on the Official Singles Chart during the Silver Jubilee period.

Sex Pistols release Holidays in the Sun as their fourth major single of 1977.

Sex Pistols release Pretty Vacant, another major UK hit during the band's explosive 1977 breakthrough.

Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols enters the UK albums chart and reaches number one.

Forms Public Image Ltd after leaving the Sex Pistols, moving toward post-punk and experimental rock.

Leaves the Sex Pistols after the band's first phase collapses, ending the original group's brief but highly influential punk career.

McLaren is accused by band members (most notably by John Lydon) of mismanaging them and refusing to pay them when they asked him for money & they split during the American tour

McLaren kept the Sex Pistols contract rights until Lydon took him to court in the 1980s to win the rights and unpaid revenues from McLaren. Lydon won and gained complete control from McLaren in 1987