Former Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon has distanced himself from any activity by his former band to cash in on Queen Elizabeth II's death.
The 66-year-old singer's announcement on Twitter said it is “tasteless” to endorse requests in connection with the band’s punk anthem God Save The Queen after the monarch’s death. But it has left Sex Pistols baffled as they claim they don't know what Lydon could be referring to..
Lydon, known by his stage name Johnny Rotten, whose band were famous for their anti-establishment lyrics, said the family “deserves some respect in this difficult time”. He wrote the lyrics to the 1977 hit which was released during the monarch’s Silver Jubilee, before being banned by the BBC.
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The statement on his official Twitter account said: "John Lydon wishes to distance himself from any Sex Pistols activity which aims to cash in on Queen Elizabeth II’s death. The musicians in the band and their management have approved a number of requests against John’s wishes on the basis of the majority court-ruling agreement. In John’s view, the timing for endorsing any Sex Pistols requests for commercial gain in connection with ‘God Save The Queen’ in particular is tasteless and disrespectful to the Queen and her family at this moment in time.
“John wrote the lyrics to this historical song, and while he has never supported the monarchy, he feels that the family deserves some respect in this difficult time, as would be expected for any other person or family when someone close to them has died.”
But a Sex Pistols spokesman told online music publication Pitchfork : ‘We cannot understand what he would be referring to. Other than a couple of requests for use of imagery or audio in news reports on the Queen and her impact on culture, there’s nothing relating to God Save the Queen being promoted or released in any way.’
Simmering tensions between Lydon, and his former bandmates recently boiled over surrounding the release of the Sex Pistols PISTOL earlier this year. In August last year, Lydon was sued by Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook and guitarist Steve Jones to allow their music to be used in the TV drama Pistol, directed by Danny Boyle. Judge Sir Anthony Mann found Cook and Jones were entitled to invoke “majority voting rules” against Lydon in relation to the use of Sex Pistols material in the series under the terms of a band member agreement.
Cook and Jones welcomed the High Court ruling but Lydon criticised it and he has now reignited the feud by making vague allegations that the remaining Sex Pistols are trying to capitalise on the death of the Queen.
Sex Pistols released God Save The Queen in 1977 during Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee. The song featured a defaced image of the Queen on the cover, and the controversial lyrics led to the song being banned by the BBC and described by the corporation as an example of ‘gross bad taste’. Major retailers Boots, WHSmith, and Woolworths all declined to sell the record.
Despite the bans, God Save the Queen officially reached number two on the UK charts, just behind Rod Stewart’s I Don’t Want To Talk About It. On the singles chart displayed in branches of WH Smith, the single's position at No. 2 was represented by a blank line. 45 years later, the song became the biggest-selling single in the UK as the country celebrated the Queen's platinum jubilee.
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