The Sex Pistols’ guitarist Steve Jones has been estranged from Johnny Rotten for 16 years.
Sex Pistol Steve Jones hasn’t spoken to his former bandmate Johnny Rotten since their final 2008 tour.
The legendary punk rock group more recently found themselves in a legal drama after guitarist Steve and drummer Paul Cook were locked in a High Court battle with the former frontman- whose real surname is Lydon – over the use of their songs in Danny Boyle’s 2022 Disney TV drama ‘Pistol’, which the singer ultimately lost, and things got bitter with Johnny branding them “greedy” and “nasty”.
It turns out, Steve hasn’t had any verbal communication with Johnny since their last concert at the Azkena Festival in Spain in September 2008.
Speaking on the ‘Rockonteurs’ podcast, Steve said: “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 bunch 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.”
He insisted: “I was done after that, no more. Too much. Too old, too much, not enough done.”
The Sex Pistols – also including bassist Glen Matlock – have recently started touring with Frank Carter in the place of Johnny and have just been confirmed to play Download Festival next summer.
After a successful one-off show performing their only album, ‘Never Mind The B*******’, in full at London’s Bush Hall in August, they embarked on a tour in September.
Frank – who previously fronted noisemakers Gallows before going on to tour as Frank Carter and The Rattlesnakes – actually first met Steve back in 2007 and was “very grateful” when he got the call to front the ‘God Save The Queen’ group.
He told NME: “I first met Steve [Jones, guitarist] back in Los Angeles in 2007 and we had a long chat about punk rock and what it means to be kicking against the p*****.
“Then I eventually met all of them throughout the years. But when I got the call up for this, it was a very special moment. It’s still one that I’m cherishing and I feel very grateful for.”
