JOHN LYDON Blasts His Longtime SEX PISTOLS Bandmates As 'Deceitful, Lying Hyenas': 'I Never Want Another Thing To Do With Them'

During an appearance on the October 15 episode of Good Morning Britain, the British breakfast television program that is broadcast on ITV, former SEX PISTOLS frontman John Lydon was asked about his previous criticism of his bandmates' decision to reform with Frank Carter on vocals, likening the whole endeavor to "karaoke". He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Cheek of them. Going out without me, singing the songs I wrote, the words I wrote, the presentation I created."

After one of the interviewers said that he "should've joined them" in the SEX PISTOLS reunion, Lydon shot back: "Uh, well, no, ma'am. I've worked enough with them in the first place. They're deceitful, lying hyenas, and I never want another thing to do with them. So can we drop the karaoke band? Because that's what they are to me — they're imitating me, and that's really kind of insulting, because there's great bands out there that imitate us already."

After debuting with three fundraising nights at London's Bush Hall in August 2024, SEX PISTOLS guitarist Steve Jones, drummer Paul Cook and bass player Glen Matlock (who was kicked out of the band's original lineup and replaced with Sid Vicious),teamed up with Frank Carter of GALLOWS and THE RATTLESNAKES for a U.K. tour in September 2024.

The reunion does not, however, feature Lydon, who served as the vocalist of the band under his Johnny Rotten moniker.

For the past two years, the band billed as SEX PISTOLS FEATURING FRANK CARTER has played further shows in Europe, North American, Australia and New Zealand.

In a February 2025 interview with The I Paper, Lydon, who has been estranged from the rest of SEX PISTOLS after unsuccessfully attempting to block the use of the band's songs in "Pistol", a Hulu miniseries based on Jones's 2016 memoir "Lonely Boy" that dramatized the group's story, stated about SEX PISTOLS' collaboration with Carter: "When I first heard that the SEX PISTOLS were touring without me, it pissed me off. It annoyed me. I just thought, 'They're absolutely going to kill all that was good with the PISTOLS by eliminating the point and the purpose of it all'. I didn't write those words lightly. They're trying to trivialize the whole show to get away with karaoke but in the long term I think you'll see who has the value and who doesn't."

He added: "I've never sold my soul to make a dollar. It's the Catholic in me — that guilt I don't want to trip. Like Nancy Reagan, I've always found it easy to just say 'no'. If something challenges your heart and your soul and your mind and your sense of purity of what is right and wrong in the world, then just say no. Which, according to the corporate thinking which riddles the music business earns me the title of 'difficult to work with' — a title of which I'm very proud."

In a separate interview with Classic Album Review, Lydon was asked if he thought the SEX PISTOLS' spirit is missing now that the band is performing without him. He replied: "I wrote the fucking songs, didn't I? I gave them the image. I was the frontman. I am the voice, what made the whole world sing. And now you're going out, as they did the year before with Billy Idol. It's just karaoke, really.

"I would love to be embarrassed by high-quality songwriting from them," he added. "They've had long enough to get that together now, haven't they? But no. They profess their hatred for me, but they can't live without me. I am the punishment that goes on giving. [Laughs]"

Earlier this month, Jones told Westword about Carter: "[Frank's] a real pro, and I like his voice. He's not trying to be John Lydon, Johnny Rotten. He's got a good rock and roll sense about him and is a lot younger, so he has bundles of energy. Not like the rest, the three of us, struggling to get by, doing an hour show. Well, we're not really struggling, but you know what I mean? There's a big difference between 42 and 71."

Regarding Lydon's criticism of the SEX PISTOLS' decision to perform without him, Jones said: "Well, what did you expect John to say? You know, John's John. He's always going to say stuff like that. He's never gonna be happy for you. Even if he is secretly. I mean, he's out there working his tail off with PIL right now."

Despite Lydon's scathing comments about the new SEX PISTOLS touring lineup, Jones insisted he holds no grudge.

"I never get offended by anything John says," the guitarist said. "I still have a love for him from what we achieved back in the day. And I wish him only the best. I really do, and I'm not just saying that. I really do."