Sex Pistols feud is worse than you know as band member speaks out

On By Littum

Photo by SEX PISTOLS and Johnny ROTTEN and Sid VICIOUS and Steve JONES and Paul COOK

The Sex Pistols’ legendary feud continues to rage (Image: Richard E. Aaron/Redferns)

The legendary one Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones has opened up about his estranged relationship with former bandmate Johnny Rotten (aka John Lydon).

Jones revealed that the pair have not spoken since the band’s last tour in 2008 and that things have only gotten worse as the years have gone by.

The punk rock icons were recently embroiled in a bitter legal dispute over the use of the band’s music in the 2022 Danny Boyle-directed drama Pistol, a TV series chronicling the band’s rise.

Speaking about the feud on the Rockonteurs podcast, Jones recalled the last time he spoke to Johnny, which was during their last show together at the Azkena festival in Spain in September 2008.

The band had just finished a grueling run of shows around the world, including shows in Europe, Japan and Australia.

Jones explained: ‘I haven’t spoken to him in years. 2008 was the last time I spoke to him. We did 30 shows around Europe. We did a lot of festivals and all that, Japan, Australia. We ended up at Hammersmith Odeon, Hammersmith Apollo and then we had one more show in the Basque Country and that was it.’


John Lydon
John Lydon sued his former bandmates (Image: Gus Stewart/Redferns)

For Jones, the final tour marked the end of the road for the Sex Pistols. Reflecting on the band’s tumultuous history and his own personal exhaustion, he added: ‘I was done after that, no more. Too much. Too old, too much, not done enough.’

The TV drama at the heart of their conflict, which premiered on Disney+ in 2022, was created with the approval of Steve Jones and drummer Paul Cook, but Lydon was not a supporter of the project.

He contested the use of the band’s music in the series, arguing that it misrepresented the band’s legacy. However, Lydon’s legal action was ultimately unsuccessful, with the court ruling in favor of Jones and Cook.


Steve Jones and Paul Cook
Steve Jones and Paul Cook (left to right) continue the band’s legacy (Image: Jones/Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

This defeat led to a bitter public exchange, with Lydon accusing his former bandmates of being ‘greedy’ and ‘nasty’.

“They murdered it,” he told me The New Cue’s Chris Catchpole of the show’s portrayal of the band’s legacy.

‘They have simply torn it apart and stripped it of all value and purpose and turned it into a commercial farce. It was very sad to have seen that documentary… I expected better from Boyle.’

It was another chapter in the fractious relationship between the band members, who have had a famously volatile history since the 1970s.

In recent years, Steve Jones and Paul Cook have continued as the Sex Pistols, albeit without Lydon. The pair began performing again with Frank Carter – frontman of British punk band Gallows – taking over as vocalist.

The Sex Pistols perform in Atlanta

Lead singer Johnny Rotten, drummer Paul Cook and guitarist Steve Jones were founding members of the band along with John Lydon (Image: Bettmann/Getty Images)

Carter, who first met Steve Jones in 2007, was excited to join the band. He described his first conversation with Jones as a defining moment in his career, one that would eventually lead to him fronting the Sex Pistols.

“I first met Steve back in Los Angeles in 2007 and we had a long chat about punk rock and what it means to kick the p****,” Carter recalled in an interview with NME.

‘Then I met them all over the years. But when I got the call for this, it was a very special moment. It’s still one I treasure and feel very grateful for.’

The band have also announced plans to perform at Download Festival in the summer of 2025, with Frank Carter continuing to step into Lydon’s shoes as frontman.

Do you have a story?

If you have a celebrity story, video or photos, contact the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us at [email protected], calling 020 3615 2145 or visiting our Submit Stuff page – We would love to hear from you.

MORE : Full list of artists headlining Glastonbury 2025

MORE: Why ’80s pop legend finds modern music ‘narcissistic’ decades after breakthrough

MORE: Final scenes revealed for 80s icon from legendary TV series after 37 years