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{{Short description|English punk rock band}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Featured article}}
{{EngvarB|date=November 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name              = Sex Pistols<!-- do not put a logo here per WP:ACCESS, WP:FAIR, and WP:LOGO -->
| image             = Sex Pistols in Paradiso.jpg
| landscape         = yes
| caption           = The Sex Pistols performing in [[Amsterdam]] in January 1977. Left to right: [[Paul Cook]] (behind the drums), [[Glen Matlock]], [[John Lydon|Johnny Rotten]], and [[Steve Jones (musician)|Steve Jones]].
| alias             = 
| origin            = [[London]], England
| genre             = [[Punk rock]]
| works             = [[Sex Pistols discography|Discography]]
| years_active      = {{flatlist|
* 1975–1978
* 1996
* 2002–2003
* 2007–2008
* 2024–present
}}
| label             = {{flatlist|
* [[EMI Records|EMI]]
* [[A&M Records|A&M]]
* [[Virgin Records|Virgin]]
* [[Universal Music Group|Universal]]
* [[Warner Records|Warner Bros.]]
}}
| spinoffs          = {{flatlist|
* [[Rich Kids]]
* [[Public Image Ltd]]
* [[Vicious White Kids]]
* [[Sham Pistols]]
* [[The Professionals (band)|The Professionals]]
* Generation Sex
}}
| website           = {{URL|sexpistolsofficial.com}}
| current_members   = 
* [[Steve Jones (musician)|Steve Jones]]
* [[Paul Cook]]
* [[Glen Matlock]]
| past_members      = 
* [[John Lydon|Johnny Rotten]]
* [[Sid Vicious]]
}}

The '''Sex Pistols''' are an English [[punk rock]] band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they became culturally influential in popular music. The band initiated the [[punk movement]] in the United Kingdom, with their clothes and hairstyles becoming a significant influence on the [[punk subculture]] and [[punk fashion|fashion]]. On 4 June and 20 July 1976, their [[Sex Pistols at the Lesser Free Trade Hall|performances]] at Manchester's [[Lesser Free Trade Hall]] inspired future members of bands such as [[Joy Division]], [[New Order (band)|New Order]], [[the Smiths]], [[The Fall (band)|the Fall]], [[Simply Red]], [[Magazine (band)|Magazine]] and [[Buzzcocks]] to pursue music, as well as [[Martin Hannett]], [[Tony Wilson]] and [[Alan McGee]], the founders of [[Factory Records|Factory]] and [[Creation Records]], who later contributed to the development of England's [[independent music]] scene, and several [[post-punk]], [[Indie rock|indie]], and [[alternative rock]] artists.

The Sex Pistols' first line-up consisted of vocalist [[Johnny Rotten]] (byname of John Lydon), guitarist [[Steve Jones (musician)|Steve Jones]], drummer [[Paul Cook]], and bassist [[Glen Matlock]], with Matlock replaced by [[Sid Vicious]] in early 1977. Under the management of [[Malcolm McLaren]], the band gained widespread attention from British press after swearing live on-air during a December 1976 television interview. Their May 1977 single "[[God Save the Queen (Sex Pistols song)|God Save the Queen]]", which described the monarchy as a "fascist regime", was released to coincide with national celebrations for the [[Elizabeth II|Queen's]] [[Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II|Silver Jubilee]]. The song was promptly banned from being played by the [[BBC]] and by nearly every independent radio station in Britain, making it the most censored record in British history.

Their sole studio album ''[[Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols]]'' (1977) was a UK number one and is regarded as seminal in the development of punk rock. In January 1978, at the final gig of a difficult and media-hyped tour of the US, Rotten announced the band's break-up live on stage. Over the next few months, the three remaining members recorded songs for McLaren's film of the Sex Pistols' story, ''[[The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle]]''. Vicious died of a [[heroin overdose]] in February 1979 following his arrest for the alleged murder of his girlfriend, [[Nancy Spungen]]. Rotten, Jones, Cook and Matlock later reunited for a successful tour in 1996.{{sfn|Pingitore|2023}} Further one-off performances and short tours followed over the next decade. In 2024, Jones, Cook, Matlock, and guest vocalist [[Frank Carter (musician)|Frank Carter]], reformed the Sex Pistols to play a series of shows that year, with further dates scheduled for 2025.

The Sex Pistols have been recognised as a highly influential band.{{sfn|Sheldon|Skinner|2006|pp=29–33}} In 2006, they were inducted into the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]] although, true to their image, they refused to attend the ceremony, with Rotten referring to the museum as "a piss stain".{{sfn|Sprague|2006}}

==History==
===Formation===
The Sex Pistols evolved from the Strand (sometimes known as the Swankers), formed in London in 1972 by teenagers [[Steve Jones (musician)|Steve Jones]] on vocals, [[Paul Cook]] on drums and [[Wally Nightingale]] on guitar. According to Jones, both he and Cook played on instruments he had stolen.{{sfn|Savage|1992|pp=77–79}}{{sfn|Strongman|2008|p=84}} The band regularly hung out at two clothing shops on the [[King's Road]] in [[Chelsea, London|Chelsea]], London: John Krivine and Steph Raynor's [[Acme Attractions]]{{sfn|Strongman|2008|p=87}}{{sfn|Savage|1992|p=96}} and [[Malcolm McLaren]] and [[Vivienne Westwood]]'s Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die. McLaren's and Westwood's shop had opened in 1971 as Let It Rock, with a 1950s revival [[Teddy Boy]] theme. It had been renamed in 1972 to focus on another revival trend, the '50s [[Rocker (subculture)|rocker]] look.{{sfn|Bell-Price|2006}} The shop then became a focal point of the early London punk rock scene, bringing together participants such as the future [[Sid Vicious]], [[Marco Pirroni]], [[Gene October]], and [[Mark Stewart (English musician)|Mark Stewart]].{{sfn|Robb|2006|pp=83–84, 86–87, 89, 102, 105}} [[Pamela Rooke|Jordan]], the wildly styled shop assistant, is credited with "pretty well single-handedly paving the punk look".{{sfn|Robb|2006|p=84}}

In late 1974, Jones asked McLaren to take over the band's management. [[Glen Matlock]], an art student who occasionally worked at McLaren's and Westwood's shop, joined as bassist.{{sfn|Savage|1992|pp=70–80}} McLaren and Westwood conceived a new identity for their shop: renamed [[SEX (boutique)|Sex]], it changed its focus away from retro 1950s couture to [[S&M]]-inspired "[[anti-fashion]]".{{sfn|Savage|1992|pp=83, 92}}{{sfn|Robb|2006|pp=83–89, 102–105}} After managing and promoting the [[New York Dolls]], McLaren returned to London in May 1975 and began to take more of an interest in the Strand.{{sfn|Gaston|2010}}

The group had been rehearsing regularly, overseen by [[Bernard Rhodes]] (who would later go on to manage [[the Clash]]) and performing live. Soon after McLaren's return, Nightingale was dismissed and Jones, uncomfortable as frontman, took over guitar.{{sfn|Strongman|2008|pp=84–85}} McLaren had been talking with the New York Dolls' [[Sylvain Sylvain]] about coming over to England to front the group. When those plans fell through, McLaren, Rhodes and the band began looking locally for a new member to assume the lead vocal duties.{{sfn|Strongman|2008|p=93}}{{sfn|Savage|1992|pp=98–99}} As described by Matlock, "Everyone had long hair back then, even the milkman, so what we used to do was if someone had short hair we would stop them in the street and ask them if they fancied themselves as a singer".{{sfn|Robb|2006|p=110}} For instance, [[Midge Ure]], the later front man of [[Rich Kids]] (with Matlock) and [[Ultravox]], claims to have been approached, but refused the offer.{{sfn|Midge Ure interview|2009}} With the search for a lead singer proving fruitless, McLaren made several calls to [[Richard Hell]], who also turned down the invitation.{{sfn|Strongman|2008|pp=93–94}}{{sfn|Savage|1992|p=99}}

===Lydon joins===
[[File:RotJonesMatCook.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.3|The Sex Pistols, early 1976; from left: Rotten, Jones, Matlock and Cook]]
Describing the social context in which the band formed, [[John Lydon]] said that mid-seventies Britain was "a very depressing place{{spaces}}... completely run-down, there was [[Winter of Discontent|trash on the streets]], total unemployment, just about everybody was on strike{{nbsp}}... if you came from the wrong side of the tracks{{nbsp}}... then you had no hope in hell and no career prospects at all."{{sfn|Robb|2006|p=97}}

In August 1975, Rhodes spotted Lydon, then 19 years old, wearing a [[Pink Floyd]] T-shirt with the words 'I Hate' handwritten above the band's name and holes scratched through the Floyd members' eyes.{{sfn|Lydon|2008|p=74}}{{sfn|Savage|1992|p=114}}{{sfn|Young|1977}} Soon after, either Rhodes or McLaren asked Lydon to audition.{{sfn|Lydon|2008|p=74}}{{sfn|Robb|2006|pp=110–111}}{{sfn|Savage|1992|p=120}}{{sfn|Strongman|2008|p=98}} During the session, Lydon improvised to [[Alice Cooper]]'s "[[I'm Eighteen]]" on the [[Sex (boutique)|Sex]] jukebox. According to Jones, "he came in with green hair. I thought he had a really interesting face. I liked his look. He had the 'I Hate Pink Floyd' T-shirt on...held together with safety pins... he was a real arsehole—but smart."{{sfn|Lydon|2008|p=74}}{{sfn|Savage|1992|pp=120–121}}{{sfn|Matlock|1990|p=71}} Jones renamed Lydon as "Johnny Rotten" as a joke, apparently because of his particularly bad teeth.{{sfn|Young|1977}}{{sfn|Robb|2006|p=112}}{{sfn|Strongman|2008|p=105}}

Cook had a full-time job and was threatening to quit the band. ''[[New Musical Express]]'' journalist [[Nick Kent]] occasionally played second guitar with the band before Lydon joined.<ref>[[Sean O'Hagan|O'Hagan, Sean]]. "[https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/jan/09/nick-kent-unstable-boys-novel-interview Nick Kent: 'I was in the right place at the right time, on the wrong drugs'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231108234155/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/jan/09/nick-kent-unstable-boys-novel-interview |date=8 November 2023 }}". The Guardian,  9 January 2021  Retrieved 8 November 2023</ref> An advertisement was placed in ''[[Melody Maker]]'' looking for a "whizz kid guitarist&nbsp;... not older than 20&nbsp;... not worse looking than [[Johnny Thunders]]."{{sfn|Matlock|1990|p=86}} As [[Steve New]] was the most talented guitarist to audition, he was asked to join. However, Jones' playing had greatly improved, and New left a month after joining the band.{{sfn|Matlock|1990|p=87}}

[[File:Sex Pistols, August 1975.jpg|thumb|August 1975, from left: Rotten, Matlock, Jones, and Cook]]
After considering band name options such as Le Bomb, Subterraneans, the Damned, Beyond, Teenage Novel, Kid Gladlove, and Crème de la Crème, they decided on Sex Pistols.{{sfn|Evans|2006|p=190}}{{sfn|Matlock|1990|pp=64–65}} Matlock said the band decided on the name while McLaren was in the United States before Rotten joined. Jon Savage says the name was not firmly settled on until just before their first show in November 1975. McLaren later said the name derived "from the idea of a pistol, a pin-up, a young thing, a better-looking assassin". Not given to modesty, false or otherwise, he added: "[I] launched the idea in the form of a band of kids who could be perceived as being bad."{{sfn|Molon|2007|p=76}} The group began writing original material: Rotten was the lyricist and Matlock the primary melody writer (though their first collaboration, "[[Pretty Vacant]]", had all lyrics by Matlock, which Rotten tweaked a bit); official credit was shared equally among the four.{{sfn|Strongman|2008|pp=99–100}}{{sfn|Reynolds|2007|p=89}}

Their first gig was arranged by Matlock, then studying at [[Saint Martin's School of Art]]. The band played at the school in November 1975,{{sfn|Gimarc|2005|p=22}}{{sfn|Robb|2006|p=114}}{{sfn|Savage|1992|p=129}} supporting the [[Pub rock (United Kingdom)|pub rock]] group [[Bazooka Joe (band)|Bazooka Joe]]. They performed several covers including [[the Who]]'s "[[Substitute (The Who song)|Substitute]]", the [[Small Faces]]' "[[Whatcha Gonna Do About It]]", and [[the Monkees]]' "[[(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone]]".{{sfn|Strongman|2008|p=106}}

=== Early following ===
{{See also|Sex Pistols at the Lesser Free Trade Hall}}
The Saint Martins gig was followed by performances at colleges around London. The band's core early followers—including [[Siouxsie Sioux]], [[Steven Severin]] and [[Billy Idol]], Jordan, and [[Soo Catwoman]]—came to be known as the [[Bromley Contingent]], after the [[London Borough of Bromley|suburban south-east London borough]] that several of them were from.{{sfn|Lydon|2008|pp=172–189}}{{sfn|Severin|1977}} Their cutting-edge fashion, much of it supplied by [[Sex (boutique)|Sex]], ignited a trend that was adopted by the new fans the band attracted.{{sfn|Savage|1992|pp=181–185}} McLaren and Westwood saw the incipient [[Punk rock#United Kingdom|London punk movement]] as a vehicle for more than just couture. They were influenced by the [[May 68|May 1968 radical uprising in Paris]], particularly by the ideology and agitations of the [[Situationists]].{{sfn|Robb|2005}}{{sfn|Savage|1992|pp=27–42, 204}}{{sfn|Strongman|2008|pp=67–75}} These interests were shared with [[Jamie Reid]], a friend of McLaren who took over the design of the band's visual imagery in the spring of 1976.{{sfn|Savage|1992|pp=201–202}} His cut-up lettering—based on notes left by kidnappers or terrorists—were used to create the classic Sex Pistols logo and many subsequent designs for the band, although they were actually introduced by McLaren's friend [[Helen Wellington-Lloyd]].{{sfn|Robb|2006|p=86}}{{sfn|Savage|1992|p=201}}{{sfn|Strongman|2008|p=111}} Reid has said that he used "to talk to John [Lydon] a lot about the Situationists{{nbsp}}... the Sex Pistols seemed the perfect vehicle to communicate ideas directly to people who weren't getting the message from left-wing politics".{{sfn|Savage|1992|pp=204–205}} McLaren was also arranging for the band's first photo sessions.{{sfn|Savage|1992|p=151}} According to the writer [[Jon Savage]], Lydon "with his green hair, hunched stance and ragged look{{nbsp}}...[Lydon] looked like a cross between [[Uriah Heep (character)|Uriah Heep]] and Richard Hell".{{sfn|Savage|1992|p=114}}{{refn|For more on Lydon's apparently coincidental resemblance to Hell, see also Matlock.{{sfn|Matlock|1990|p=71}} Also Matlock and Pirroni quotes in Robb, John, ''Punk Rock''.{{sfn|Robb|2006|pp=111–112, 183}}|group=note}}

Their first gig to attract attention was as a supporting act for [[Eddie and the Hot Rods]], a leading pub rock group, at the [[Marquee Club|Marquee]] in February 1976.{{sfn|Robb|2006|pp=147–148}} The band's first review appeared in the ''NME'', accompanied by a brief interview in which Jones declared, "Actually we're not into music. We're into chaos."{{sfn|Robb|2006|p=148}} Among those who read the article were two students at the [[Bolton Institute of Technology]], [[Howard Devoto]] and [[Pete Shelley]], who headed down to London in search of the Sex Pistols. After chatting with McLaren at [[Sex (boutique)|Sex]], they saw the band at a couple of late February gigs.{{sfn|Robb|2006|pp=163–166}} The two friends immediately began organising their own Pistols-style group, [[Buzzcocks]]. As Devoto later put it, "My life changed the moment that I saw the Sex Pistols."{{sfn|Savage|1992|p=174}}

The Pistols soon played other important venues, notably playing at [[Oxford Street]]'s [[100 Club]] for the first time on 30 March.{{sfn|Robb|2006|p=153}} On 3 April, they played for the first time at the Nashville, supporting [[the 101ers]]. The pub rock group's lead singer, [[Joe Strummer]], saw the Pistols for the first time that night—and recognised punk rock as the future.{{sfn|Robb|2006|p=155}} A return gig at the Nashville on 23 April highlighted the band's growing musical competence. However Westwood started a fight with another audience member which also dragged in McLaren and Rotten.{{sfn|Savage|1992|pp=166–167}}{{sfn|Matlock|1990|p=107}} Cook later said, the "fight at the Nashville: that's when all the publicity got hold of it and the violence started creeping in{{nbsp}}... I think everybody was ready to go and we were the catalyst."{{sfn|Savage|1992|p=168}}

The leading New York punk band, the [[Ramones]], released their [[Ramones (album)|debut album]] on 23 April 1976. Although regarded as seminal to the growth of English punk rock, with Cook and Jones being fans of the album,<ref name="auto">{{Cite news |last1=Lester |first1=Paul |last2=Lester |first2=Interviews by Paul |date=2016-02-02 |title=Forty years of the Ramones: 'They were the smartest dumb band you ever heard' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/feb/02/forty-years-of-the-ramones-they-were-the-smartest-dumb-band-you-ever-heard |access-date=2025-01-08 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFIeg-OzFoU |title=Ramones Punk Rock Story Time With Steve Jones - Part 1 - 10th Annual Johnny Ramone Tribute |date=2014-06-19 |last=Johnny Ramone |access-date=2025-01-08 |via=YouTube}}</ref> Lydon has repeatedly rejected that it influenced the Sex Pistols, claiming that they "were all long-haired and of no interest to me. I didn't like their image, what they stood for, or anything about them".
{{sfn|Lydon|2008|p=118}}{{sfn|Robb|2006|p=182}} Cook also denied being influenced by their music, stating, "the Ramones and the Pistols were different animals, with a different flavour. They were more basic, three-chord rock’n’roll", but added that the release of the album made the Pistols think, "We’d better crack on here.”<ref name="auto"/>[[File:Sex Pistols June 4 1976.jpg|thumb|right|224x224px|A [[Sex Pistols at the Lesser Free Trade Hall|performance]] at Manchester [[Lesser Free Trade Hall]] on 4 June 1976]]On 11 May, the Pistols began a four-week Tuesday night residency at the 100 Club.{{sfn|Gimarc|2005|p=30}} They devoted the rest of the month to touring small cities and towns in the north of England and recording demos in London with producer and recording artist [[Chris Spedding]].{{sfn|Gimarc|2005|p=30}}{{sfn|Robb|2006|pp=160–162}}{{sfn|Savage|1992|pp=173–174}} The following month they played their first gig in [[Manchester]], arranged by Devoto and Shelley. The Sex Pistols' [[Sex Pistols at the Lesser Free Trade Hall|4 June performance]] at the [[Lesser Free Trade Hall]] set off a punk rock boom in the city.{{sfn|Sex Pistols Gig|2006}}{{sfn|Morley|2006}}

On 4 and 6 July, respectively, two newly formed London punk rock acts—[[the Clash]], with Strummer as lead vocalist, and [[The Damned (band)|the Damned]]—made their live debuts opening for the Sex Pistols. On their off-night on the 5th, the Pistols attended a Ramones gig at [[Dingwalls]], like virtually everyone else at the centre of the early London punk scene.{{sfn|Robb|2006|pp=199–201}} During a return Manchester gig on 20 July, the Pistols premiered a new song, "[[Anarchy in the U.K.]]", reflecting elements of the radical ideologies to which Rotten was being exposed. According to Savage, "there seems little doubt that Lydon was fed material by Vivienne Westwood and Jamie Reid, which he then converted into his own lyric".{{sfn|Savage|1992|p=204}}

"Anarchy in the U.K." was among the seven original songs recorded in a demo session overseen by the band's sound engineer, [[Dave Goodman (record producer)|Dave Goodman]].{{sfn|Strongman|2008|pp=118–119}}{{sfn|Savage|1992|p=205}} McLaren organised a major event for 29 August at [[The Screen on the Green]] in London's [[Islington]] district, with the Buzzcocks and the Clash opening for the Pistols.{{sfn|Savage|1992|pp=207–209}}{{sfn|Robb|2006|pp=212–215}}{{refn| Quote: Savage, Jon, ''England's Dreaming''{{sfn|Savage|1992|p=207}}|group=note}} Three days later, the band were in Manchester to tape their first television appearance, for [[Tony Wilson]]'s ''[[So It Goes (TV series)|So It Goes]]''.{{sfn|Nolan|2009|pp=38–45}} The Pistols played their first gig outside Britain on 3 September, at the opening of the Chalet du Lac disco in Paris. The Bromley Contingent were in attendance and Siouxsie was harassed by locals due to her outfit with bare breasts.{{sfn|Savage|1992|p=37}} The following day, the ''So It Goes'' performance aired.{{sfn|Gimarc|2005|p=37}}{{sfn|Sex Pistols Appear|1977}} On 13 September, the Pistols began a tour of Britain.{{sfn|Gimarc|2005|p=38}} A week later, back in London, they headlined the opening night of the [[100 Club Punk Special]]. Organised by McLaren (for whom the word "festival" had too much of a hippie connotation), the event was "considered the moment that was the catalyst for the years to come".{{sfn|Strongman|2008|p=135}}{{sfn|Savage|1992|p=317}}{{sfn|Gimarc|2005|p=39}} Belying the common perception that punk bands couldn't play their instruments, contemporary music press reviews, later critical assessments of concert recordings, and testimonials by fellow musicians indicate that the Pistols had developed into a tight, ferocious live band.{{sfn|Coon|1976|p=unknown}}{{sfn|Ingham|1976}}{{sfn|Savage|1992|pp=176–177, 206, 208}}{{sfn|Robb|2006|pp=119, 156, 162}} As Rotten tested out wild vocalisation styles, the instrumentalists experimented "with overload, feedback and distortion{{nbsp}}... pushing their equipment to the limit".{{sfn|Savage|1992|p=177}}

=== Mainstream fame ===
{{see also|Bill Grundy#The Today incident}}

{{listen
|type=music
|filename=Anarchy in the UK.ogg
|title="Anarchy in the U.K."
|description=Excerpt from "Anarchy in the UK"
}}
The record label [[EMI]] signed the band on a two-year contract on 8 October 1976.{{sfn|Robb|2006|p=241}} The Pistols were soon in a studio recording a full-dress session with Dave Goodman. According to Matlock, "The idea was to get the spirit of the live performance. We were pressurized to make it faster and faster."{{sfn|Savage|1992|p=245}} The results were rejected by the band. [[Chris Thomas (record producer)|Chris Thomas]], who had produced [[Roxy Music]] and mixed Pink Floyd's ''[[The Dark Side of the Moon]]'', was brought in to produce.{{sfn|Strongman|2008|pp=144–148}} The band's first single, "[[Anarchy in the U.K.]]", was released on 26 November 1976.{{sfn|Savage|1992|p=245}} The musician and journalist [[John Robb (musician)|John Robb]] later described the record's impact: "From Steve Jones' opening{{nbsp}}... descending chords, to Johnny Rotten's{{nbsp}}... sneering vocals, this song is the perfect statement{{nbsp}}... a stunningly powerful piece of punk politics."{{sfn|Robb|2006|pp=257–258}} [[Colin Newman]] of the early [[post-punk]] band [[Wire (band)|Wire]], described it as "the clarion call of a generation".{{sfn|Robb|2006|p=258}}

The lyrics of "Anarchy in the U.K." linked punk to a newly politicised and nihilistic attitude, typified by phrases such as "I am an anti-Christ" and "Destroy!".{{sfn|Hatch|Millward|1989|pp=168, 170}} The single's packaging and visual promotion also broke new ground. Reid and McLaren came up with the idea of selling the record in a completely wordless, featureless black sleeve.{{sfn|Savage|1992|p=253}} The primary image associated with the single was Reid's "anarchy flag" poster: a ripped up and partly safety-pinned back together [[Union Flag]], with the song and band names clipped across the middle. These and other of Reid's images for the band quickly became punk [[iconography]].{{sfn|Pardo|2004|p=245}}
[[File:The Fucking Rotter 31 Second.ogg|thumb|right|Clip from the 1976 interview with the Pistols and members of the Bromley Contingent conducted by Bill Grundy]]

{{anchor|today_programme}}The Pistols' behaviour as much as their music attracted national media attention. On 1 December 1976, the band, accompanied by members of the Bromley Contingent, repeatedly swore during an early evening live broadcast of [[Thames Television]]'s ''Today'' programme, hosted by [[Bill Grundy]]. Appearing as last-minute replacements for [[Queen (band)|Queen]], the band and their entourage were offered drinks as they waited to go on air. During the interview, encouraged by Grundy, Jones said the band had "fucking spent" its [[Recording contract|label advance]], and Rotten used the word "shit". Grundy—who later claimed to have been drunk—then attempted to flirt with Siouxsie Sioux, who replied that she had "always wanted to meet" him. Grundy responded, "Did you really? We'll meet afterwards, shall we?", prompting Jones to repeatedly swear.{{sfn|Savage|1992|pp=257–259}}

[[Image:Filthandfury.png|thumb|right|''[[Daily Mirror]]'' front page, 2 December 1976]]
Although the programme was only broadcast in the London region, the ensuing media coverage occupied the tabloid newspapers for days. The ''[[Daily Mirror]]'' famously ran the headline "The Filth and the Fury!", and asked "Who are these punks?";{{sfn|Robb|2006|p=260}} other papers such as the ''[[Daily Express]]'' ("Fury at Filthy TV Chat") and the ''[[Daily Telegraph]]'' ("4-Letter Words Rock TV") followed suit.{{sfn|Savage|1992|p=264}}{{sfn|Strongman|2008|p=157}} Thames Television suspended Grundy and the interview effectively ended his career.<ref>"[https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/1976/dec/03/greatinterviews Grundy banned] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231018015509/https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/1976/dec/03/greatinterviews |date=18 October 2023 }}". ''The Guardian'',  December 1976. Retrieved 16 October 2023</ref>{{sfn|Gensler|2016}} Steve Jones reflected; Grundy was the big dividing line in the Sex Pistols' story. Before it, we were all about the music, but from then on it was all about the media. In some ways it was our finest moment, but in others it was the beginning of the end{{nbsp}}... In terms of the Sex Pistols having any kind of long-term future, this sudden acceleration was the worst thing that could possibly have happened.{{sfn|Jones|2016|pp=178–180}}

The interview made the band a household name overnight in Britain and brought punk into the mainstream.<ref name=fader>{{cite web|first=Peter|last=Macia|url=https://www.thefader.com/2010/10/21/read-our-interview-with-ari-up-from-the-siouxsie-siouxshabba-ranks-icon-issue|title=Read Our Interview With Ari Up from the Siouxsie Sioux/Shabba Ranks Icon Issue|publisher=The Fader|date=21 October 2010|access-date=21 September 2019|archive-date=26 December 2018|archive-url=https://archive.today/20181226153301/https://www.thefader.com/2010/10/21/read-our-interview-with-ari-up-from-the-siouxsie-siouxshabba-ranks-icon-issue|url-status=live}}</ref> They launched the UK Anarchy Tour, supported by the Clash and Johnny Thunders' band [[the Heartbreakers]], over from New York. The Damned were briefly part of the tour, before McLaren kicked them off. Media coverage was intense, and many of the concerts were cancelled by organisers or local authorities; of approximately twenty scheduled gigs, only about seven actually took place.{{sfn|Robb|2006|pp=263–273}}{{sfn|Savage|1992|pp=267–275}} Following a campaign in the south Wales press, a crowd including [[Carol (music)|carol]] singers and a [[Pentecostal]] preacher, protested against the group outside a show in [[Caerphilly]].{{sfn|Wales Music|2010}} Packers at the EMI plant refused to handle the band's single.{{sfn|Gimarc|2005|p=45}} London Conservative councillor Bernard Brook Partridge said, "Most of these groups would be vastly improved by sudden death. The worst of the punk rock groups I suppose currently are the Sex Pistols. They are unbelievably nauseating{{nbsp}}... the antithesis of humankind. I would like to see somebody dig a very, very large, exceedingly deep hole and drop the whole bloody lot down it."{{sfn|Gimarc|2005|p=49}}{{refn|The transcription of the television interview has been corrected per the documentary footage used in ''The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle'' (28:36–28:55)|group=note}}

Three concerts were arranged in the Netherlands for January 1977. The band, hungover, boarded a plane at [[London Heathrow Airport]] early on 4 January; a few hours later, the ''[[Evening News (London)|Evening News]]'' was reporting that the band had "vomited and spat their way" to the flight.{{sfn|Savage|1992|p=286}} Despite categorical denials by the EMI representative who accompanied the group, the label, which was under political pressure, released the band from their contract.{{sfn|Savage|1992|pp=286–288}} In one journalist's later description, the Pistols had "stoked a [[moral panic]]{{nbsp}}... precipitating the cancellation of gigs, the band's expulsion from their EMI record deal and lurid tabloid tales of punk's 'shock cult{{'"}}.{{sfn|Worley|2017}} As McLaren fielded offers from other labels, the band went into the studio for a round of recordings with Goodman, their last with either him or Matlock.{{sfn|Strongman|2008|p=172}}

==== Sid Vicious replaces Matlock ====
[[File:SexPistolsNorway1977.jpg|thumbnail|left|The Sex Pistols (Sid Vicious left, Steve Jones centre, and Johnny Rotten right) performing in Trondheim, Norway, July 1977]]

On 28 February 1977 McLaren announced Matlock was leaving the band because Matlock "went on too long about [[Paul McCartney]]."{{sfn|Gimarc|2005|p=56}} Although Matlock says he left voluntarily, Jones claimed in a contemporary interview that he was sacked because he "liked the Beatles".{{sfn|Kelly|2021}}{{sfn|Gimarc|2005|p=56}}{{sfn|Edinburgh Festival|2014}} In 2005, Jones admitted that although Matlock was a good songwriter, he "didn't look like a Sex Pistol".{{sfn|McKenna|2005}}{{refn|See also later Lydon quote: Savage, Jon, ''England's Dreaming'', pp. 307–308.|group=note}} In 1990, Matlock described the reason as his bitter relationship with Rotten, exacerbated—in Matlock's account—by Rotten's attitude "once he'd had his name in the papers".{{sfn|Matlock|1990|pp=113–119, 162, 167–171}} Jon Savage suggests that Rotten pushed Matlock out to demonstrate his power and autonomy from McLaren.{{sfn|Savage|1992|p=308}}

Matlock was replaced by Rotten's friend [[Sid Vicious]], previously the drummer of two inner circle punk bands, [[Siouxsie and the Banshees]] and [[The Flowers of Romance (British band)|the Flowers of Romance]]. According to Matlock, Rotten wanted Vicious in the band because {{nowrap|"[i]nstead}} of him against Steve and Paul, it would become him and Sid against Steve and Paul. He always thought of it in terms of opposing camps."{{sfn|Matlock|1990|p=176}} According to Jones, "to Cookie [Paul Cook] and me, it just didn't make any sense to have someone who couldn't play a note trying to fill Glen's shoes, but it was never about the music for McLaren{{nbsp}}... from the minute Sid joined the band, nothing was ever normal again."{{sfn|Jones|2016|pp=184–185}}

[[Julien Temple]], then a film student McLaren had employed to create a comprehensive audiovisual record of the band, agrees: "Sid was John's protégé in the group, really. The other two just thought he was crazy."{{sfn|Savage|1992|p=308}} McLaren later stated that, much earlier in the band's career, Westwood had told him he should "get the guy called John [Sid Vicious] who came to the store a couple of times" to be the singer. When Lydon was recruited, Westwood said McLaren had recruited "the wrong John".<ref name=Blood>''Blood on the Turntable: The Sex Pistols'' (dir. Steve Crabtree), BBC documentary (2004).</ref>

[[File:Sex Pistols i Norge, 1977 (6262827245).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|The Sex Pistols on stage at the [[Student Society in Trondheim]], 1977]]
Vicious was arrested after hurling a glass that shattered and blinded a girl in one eye at a Damned gig at the 100 Club Punk Special. He served time in a remand centre and the incident contributed to the 100 Club banning punk bands.{{sfn|Robb|2006|pp=217, 224–225}}{{sfn|Strongman|2008|pp=137–138}} He assaulted [[Nick Kent]] with a bicycle chain during a gig at the 100 Club.{{sfn|Strongman|2008|pp=116–117}}{{sfn|Savage|1992|pp=177–178}} According to McLaren, "when Sid joined he couldn't play guitar but his craziness fitted into the structure of the band."{{sfn|Robinson|2006}} "Everyone agreed he had the look," Lydon later recalled, but musical skill was another matter. "The first rehearsals{{nbsp}}... with Sid were hellish".{{sfn|Lydon|2008|p=143}} In the music documentary, "Punk Attitude", [[Chrissie Hynde]] remarked that Vicious learned to play bass by staying up for 3 nights on [[amphetamines|speed]] playing along to the [[Ramones]] first album ''[[Ramones (album)|Ramones]]'',<ref name=attitude>{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7ivTF2nMFE |title="Punk Attitude", written and directed by Don Letts, 2005 |website=[[YouTube]] |date=9 August 2023 |access-date=8 May 2025 |archive-date=5 April 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250405123754/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7ivTF2nMFE&feature=youtu.be |url-status=live }}</ref>Marco Pirroni, who had performed with Vicious in Siouxsie and the Banshees, has said, "After that, it was nothing to do with music anymore. It would just be for the [[sensationalism]] and scandal of it all. Then it became the Malcolm McLaren story".{{sfn|Robinson|2006}}

Being in the Pistols had a progressively destructive effect on Vicious. As Lydon observed, "Up to that time, Sid was absolutely childlike. Everything was fun and giggly. Suddenly he was a big pop star. Pop star status meant press, a good chance to be spotted in all the right places, adoration."{{sfn|Robinson|2006}} Early in 1977, he met [[Nancy Spungen]].{{sfn|Monk|Guterman|1992|p=124}} Spungen introduced Vicious to heroin, and their emotional codependency alienated him from the other band members. Lydon later wrote, "we did everything to get rid of Nancy{{nbsp}}... She was killing him. I was absolutely convinced this girl was on a slow suicide mission{{nbsp}}... She wanted to take Sid with her."{{sfn|Lydon|2008|p=147}}

====A&M, Virgin, and Jubilee week====
The Pistols signed to [[A&M Records]] at a March 1977 press ceremony held outside [[Buckingham Palace]]. Afterwards, intoxicated, they went to the A&M offices where Vicious reportedly broke a toilet bowl and Rotten verbally abused members of the label's staff.{{sfn|Strongman|2008|p=174}}{{sfn|Savage|1992|pp=315–318}} A couple of days later, the Pistols got into a fight with another band at a club; one of Rotten's friends threatened a friend of A&M's English director; A&M broke their contract with the Pistols on 16 March. Although 25,000 copies of the "God Save the Queen" single had already been pressed, nearly all were destroyed.{{sfn|Savage|1992|pp=318–320}} [[File:Sex Pistols - God Save the Queen.jpg|thumb|right|Jamie Reid's "God Save the Queen" sleeve; in 2001, it was named the greatest record cover of all time by ''[[Q (magazine)|Q]]'' magazine.{{sfn|Sex Pistols Cover Tops Chart|2001}}]]

Vicious first performed with the Pistols at London's Notre Dame Hall on 28 March.{{sfn|Gimarc|2005|pp=59–60}} That May, the Pistols signed with [[Virgin Records]], their third label in little more than half a year. During Virgin's release campaign for "God Save the Queen", workers at the pressing plant laid down tools in protest at the song's lyrics and Reid's cover art of [[Queen Elizabeth II]] with her face obscured by cutout letters forming the song title and the band name.{{sfn|Savage|1992|pp=347, 349}}{{sfn|Robb|2006|p=348}} The single was eventually released on 27 May.{{sfn|Gimarc|2005|p=70}}{{sfn|Savage|1992|p=349}} Its lyrics–"God save the queen / the fascist regime..She ain't no human being / and there's no future / in England's dreaming"–lead to widespread outcry from the British [[Tabloid journalism|tabloids]],{{sfn|Savage|1992|pp=347–367}}{{sfn|Beaumont-Thomas|2022}} leading to several major chains withdrawing it from sale.{{sfn|Gimarc|2005|p=70}}{{sfn|Savage|1992|p=349}} It was banned by [[BBC]] radio and television and every independent radio station, making it, according to the music critic Alexis Petridis, the "most heavily censored record in British history".{{sfn|Petridis|2002}} The song's social impact has been described by the musician and journalist [[Sean O'Hagan]] as "punk's crowning glory".{{sfn| O'Hagan|2004}}

The single was timed to coincide with the height of [[Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II|Queen Elizabeth's Silver Jubilee]] celebrations. By Jubilee weekend, a week and a half after the record's release, it had sold more than 150,000 copies. On 7 June, McLaren chartered a boat to have the Sex Pistols perform while sailing the [[River Thames]], passing [[Westminster Pier]] and the [[Houses of Parliament]]. The event was conceived as a mockery of the Queen's river procession planned for two days later, but ended in chaos. Police launches forced the boat to dock, and constabulary surrounded the gangplanks at the pier. While the band members and their equipment were hustled down a side stairwell, McLaren, Westwood, and many of the band's entourage were arrested.{{sfn|Savage|1992|pp=358–364}}{{sfn|Strongman|2008|pp=181–182}} 
{{listen|type=music|filename=God Save the Queen Sex Pistols 23 sec.ogg|title="God Save the Queen"|description="God Save the Queen" was originally titled "No Future", but was changed to coincide with the 1977 Jubilee}}

"God Save the Queen" opened at number 2 on the official UK record chart for Jubilee week, behind [[Rod Stewart]]'s "[[I Don't Want to Talk About It]]". McLaren claimed that [[CBS Records International|CBS Records]], who distributed both singles, told him that the Pistols were outselling Stewart two to one. There is evidence that exceptional measures were taken by the [[British Phonographic Institute]], which oversaw the compilation of the UK chart, to exclude sales from Virgin's shops.{{sfn|Savage|1992|pp=364–365}}{{sfn|Leigh|1998}}

Attacks on punk fans rose and in mid-June, Rotten was assaulted by a knife-wielding gang outside Islington's Pegasus pub, causing tendon damage to his left arm. Reid and Cook were beaten up in other incidents; three days after the Pegasus assault, Rotten was attacked again.{{sfn|Savage|1992|pp=365–366}} According to Cook, after the "God Save the Queen" single and the Grundy incident, the Pistols were public enemy number one, and there was a rivalry between gangs of [[Rockabilly|rockabillies]], [[Teddy Boy]]s and punks, which often led to violence. By that August the band were unable to publicise UK dates, forcing them to tour pseudonymously as the SPOTS (Sex Pistols on Tour Secretly) to avoid cancellation.{{sfn|Savage|1992|pp=390–392}}

McLaren had long wanted to make a movie featuring the Sex Pistols. Temple's first task was to assemble ''Sex Pistols Number 1'', a 25-minute mosaic of footage from various sources, much of it refilmed from television screens.{{sfn|Savage|1992|pp=339–340}} ''Number 1'' was often screened at concert venues before the band took stage. Using media footage from the Thames incident, Temple created another short, ''Jubilee Riverboat'' (aka ''Sex Pistols Number 2'').{{sfn|Thompson|2004}}{{sfn|Jubilee Riverboat|1977}}

====  Never Mind the Bollocks  ====
{{Main|Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols}}
[[File:Thesexpistols-logo.svg|thumb|[[Jamie Reid]]'s logo for ''[[Never Mind the Bollocks]]'']]
Beginning in early 1977, Lydon, Jones and Cook began to record tracks for their debut album with producer Chris Thomas. Initially titled ''God Save Sex Pistols'', it became known during the summer as ''Never Mind the Bollocks''.{{sfn|Savage|1992|p=409}} Vicious's lack of musical ability became apparent soon after he joined the sessions; according to Jones they "tried as hard as possible not to let [Vicious] anywhere near the studio".{{sfn|Lydon|2008|p=200}} Although Matlock was asked to return as a [[session musician]], Jones ultimately played most of the bass parts.{{sfn|Hartmann|2017}} Vicious's bass is reportedly present on "[[Bodies (Sex Pistols song)|Bodies]]": According to Jones, "we just let him do it. When he left I [[Dubbing|dubbed]] another part on, leaving Sid's down low."{{sfn|Lydon|2008|p=200}} Jones says that Vicious showed up for the "God Save the Queen" session, while Lydon remembers him being there during the recording of an unused version of "Submission".{{sfn|Lydon|2008|pp=142–143}} Two further singles were released from the Thomas sessions; "Pretty Vacant" on 1 July{{sfn|Savage|1992|pp=126–127}}{{sfn|Robb|2006|p=359}}{{sfn|Gimarc|2005|p=74}} and "[[Holidays in the Sun (song)|Holidays in the Sun]]" on 14 October.{{sfn|Gimarc|2005|p=95}} Each was a top-ten hit.{{sfn|Savage|1992|p=556}}

The album was released on 28 October 1977.{{sfn|Taylor|2004|p=69}} ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' described it as "the most exciting rock & roll record of the Seventies".{{sfn|Nelson|1978}} Some critics were disappointed that the album contained all four previously released singles, and dismissed it as little more than a "greatest hits" compilation.{{sfn|Savage|1992|p=414}}{{sfn|Ott|2004}}

Containing the track "Bodies"—in which Rotten says "fuck" six times—and "God Save the Queen", and featuring the word ''[[bollocks]]'' in its title, the album was banned by [[Boots (company)|Boots]], [[WHSmith]] and [[Woolworths (United Kingdom)|Woolworths]].{{sfn|Savage|1992|p=415}} The Conservative shadow minister for education condemned it as "a symptom of the way society is declining", and both the [[Independent Television Companies Association]] and Association of Independent Radio Contractors banned its advertisements.{{sfn|Thompson|2000|p=609}}{{sfn|de Jongh|1977}} Nonetheless, advance sales were sufficient to make it number one on the album chart.{{sfn|Savage|1992|p=415}}

The album title led to a high-profile legal case after a [[Nottingham]] Virgin Records store was threatened with prosecution for displaying "indecent printed matter". The case was thrown out when defending [[Queen's Counsel|QC]] [[John Mortimer]] produced an expert witness who established that ''bollocks'' was an [[Old English]] term for a small ball, that the word appeared in place names without causing local communities erotic disturbance, and that in the nineteenth century ''bollocks'' had been used as a nickname for clergymen: "Clergymen are known to talk a good deal of rubbish and so the word later developed the meaning of nonsense."{{sfn|Vermorel|Vermorel|1987|p=113}} In the context of the album title, the term does in fact primarily signify "nonsense". Steve Jones off-handedly came up with the title as the band debated what to call the album. An exasperated Jones said, "Oh, fuck it, never mind the bollocks of it all."{{sfn|Lydon|2008|p=202}}

After dates in the Netherlands, the band set out on a Never Mind the Bans tour of Britain in December 1977. Of eight scheduled dates, four were cancelled due to illness or political pressure. On Christmas Day, the Pistols played two shows at Ivanhoe's in [[Huddersfield]], the first show being for the children of striking firemen.{{sfn|Savage|1992|pp=428–429}} These were the band's final UK performances for more than eighteen years.{{sfn|Robb|2006|p=403}}

The Pistols January 1978 US tour was initially scheduled for nine dates, but due to Vicious's drug use and the breakdown in the relationship between Lydon and McLaren was cut short after seven shows.{{sfn|Knopper|2022}} It was delayed due to American authorities' reluctance to issue a visa to Jones, given his criminal record, leading to the cancellation of several dates in the [[Northeastern United States|Northeast]].{{sfn|Taylor|2004|p=69}}{{sfn|Savage|1992|p=430}} Although the tour had been highly anticipated in the US, it was plagued by in-fighting and poor planning, leading to frustrated and belligerent audiences.<ref name=Blood/>{{sfn|Huey|2005}}

Early in the tour, Vicious was arrested while trying to buy heroin in [[Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis]] and beaten by the security team hired by [[Warner Records|Warner Bros.]], the band's American label.{{sfn|Savage|1992|p=446}} He subsequently appeared with the words "Gimme a fix" scarred on his chest.{{sfn|Savage|1996|p=36}}{{sfn|Spong|2014}} During a concert in [[San Antonio]], Vicious had a back and forth verbal altercation with a man in the crowd, Vicious shouted "You faggot little fucker" before swinging his bass guitar into the crowd and having the man kicked out of the concert.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXCvQDCc0Zc|title=Sex Pistols At Randy's Rodeo-New York-Sid Hits Guy With Bass.|date=27 July 2011|access-date=31 October 2025|via=[[YouTube]]}}</ref> Suffering from heroin withdrawal during a show in [[Dallas]], he spat blood at a woman who climbed onstage and punched him in the face.{{sfn|Lydon|2008|p=244}} He was admitted to hospital later that night to treat various injuries. Offstage he is said to have kicked a photographer, attacked a security guard, and challenged one of his own bodyguards to a fight.{{sfn|Robinson|2006}}
{{listen|type=music|filename=No Fun Sex Pistols 16 sec.ogg|title="No Fun"|description=Sample of "No Fun", a cover version of [[the Stooges]] song—studio recording from 1976 or 1977}}

Rotten was suffering flu{{sfn|Vermorel|Vermorel|1987|p=120}} and coughing up blood, and he felt increasingly isolated from Cook and Jones and disgusted by Vicious.{{sfn|Lydon|2008|pp=5, 247–248}} Jones later said that he and Cook "couldn't stand being around Johnny and Sid anymore. You couldn't turn round for a minute without Sid starting a fight{{nbsp}}... Then on top of that you had Rotten, who was on his own trip and basically thought he was God by that stage."{{sfn|Jones|2016|p=200}}

On 14 January 1978, during the tour's final date at the [[Winterland Ballroom]] in San Francisco, a disillusioned Rotten introduced the band's encore saying, "You'll get one number and one number only 'cause I'm a lazy bastard." That one number was a [[The Stooges|Stooges]] cover, "No Fun". At the end of the song, Rotten, kneeling on the stage, chanted an unambiguous declaration, "This is no fun. No fun. This is no fun—at all. No fun." As the final cymbal crash died away, Rotten addressed the audience directly—"Ah-ha-ha. Ever get the feeling you've been cheated? Good night"—before throwing down his microphone and walking offstage.{{sfn|Cooper|1978}}{{refn|The transcription has been slightly expanded per the documentary footage used in ''The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle'' (1:09:55–1:10:31). The sound cuts out immediately after the word "cheated".|group=note}} He later observed, "I felt cheated, and I wasn't going on with it any longer; it was a ridiculous farce. Sid was completely out of his brains—just a waste of space. The whole thing was a joke at that point{{nbsp}}... [Malcolm] wouldn't speak to me{{nbsp}}... He would not discuss anything with me. But then he would turn around and tell Paul and Steve that the tension was all my fault because I wouldn't agree to anything."{{sfn|Lydon|2008|p=5}}

On 17 January the band travelled separately to Los Angeles. Vicious, in increasingly bad shape, was brought by a friend who then took him to New York; Vicious took a mixture of [[valium]] and [[methadone]] (later excused as "nervous exhaustion") and was hospitalised on arrival.{{sfn|Savage|1992|pp=463–464}}{{sfn|Savage|2009}} Rotten flew to New York to visit Vicious, and announced the band's break-up on 18 January.{{sfn|Savage|1992|p=464}} Virtually broke, he telephoned the head of Virgin Records, [[Richard Branson]], who agreed to pay for his flight back to London.{{sfn|Reynolds|2006|pp=80–81}}{{sfn|Sullivan|2015}}

==== Post-Lydon phase and initial breakup====
Cook, Jones and Vicious did not play live together again after Rotten's departure. Over the next several months, McLaren arranged for recordings in Brazil (with Jones and Cook), Paris (with Vicious) and London; they and others stepped in as lead vocalists on tracks. On 30 June, a single was released: on one side, notorious criminal [[Ronnie Biggs]] sang "[[No One Is Innocent (song)|No One Is Innocent]]" accompanied by Jones and Cook; on the other, Vicious sang the classic "[[My Way]]", over both a Jones–Cook backing track and a string orchestra.{{sfn|Gimarc|2005|p=145}}{{refn|Gimarc refers to sources claiming that the "My Way" recording involved no contact between Vicious and the Jones-Cook duo; Temple, however, says that Jones was flown over to Paris to join Vicious in the studio,{{sfn|Temple|2001|loc=1:29:18–1:29:20}} and seems to indicate that he recorded his guitar part there (1:33:09–1:33:16).|group=note}} The single charted at number seven.{{sfn|Savage|1992|pp=497–498}}

Vicious moved to New York, where he attempted to launch a career as a solo artist with Spungen as his manager. In September 1978, backed by members of the New York Dolls, Vicious recorded songs eventually released on his posthumous 1979 live album ''[[Sid Sings]]''. On 12 October 1978, Spungen was found dead aged 20 in the [[Hotel Chelsea]] room she was sharing with Vicious, from a stab wound to her stomach.{{sfn|Parker|2007|p=180}}{{sfn|Sex Pistol Vicious on Murder Charge|1978}} Police recovered drug paraphernalia from the scene and Vicious was arrested and charged with her murder.{{sfn|Sex Pistol Vicious on Murder Charge|1978}} While on [[bail]], Vicious was arrested for smashing a beer mug in the face of [[Patti Smith]]'s brother Todd Smith. Vicious was taken into custody on 9 December 1978 and spent the next 54 days in [[Rikers Island]] jail, where he underwent enforced [[cold turkey]] detox. He was released on bail on 1 February 1979. Later that night, following a small party to celebrate his release, he died of a [[heroin overdose]], aged 21.{{sfn|Savage|1992|pp=527–529}}{{sfn|Strongman|2008|pp=241–242}}

Cook and Jones continued to work together, with two new tracks they'd recorded, "Black Leather" and "Here We Go Again", appearing on the Japanese compilation ''The Very Best Of Sex Pistols And We Don't Care'' in December 1979,<ref>Robertson, Sandy. "God Save the Sex Pistols". ''[[Sounds (magazine)|Sounds]]'', January 1980</ref> Other new songs appeared on ''[[The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle (album)|The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle]]'', a soundtrack album for a then-uncompleted film about the Sex Pistols. The album was released by Virgin Records in February 1979, and consisted mostly of cover songs and new tracks sung by Jones, Vicious, Cook, Biggs, McLaren and [[Edward Tudor-Pole]]. Several tracks feature Rotten's vocals from early unissued sessions, in some cases with re-recorded music by Jones and Cook. There is one live cut, from the band's final concert in San Francisco. The album also contains tracks in which other artists cover Sex Pistols songs.{{sfn|Savage|1992|pp=531–536, 558}}{{sfn|Gimarc|2005|p=188}}{{refn|Savage says there are six Rotten vocals (p. 558); in fact, the various releases of the album all include seven or eight.|group=note}} Four songs from ''Swindle'' became top ten singles, one more than from ''Never Mind the Bollocks''. The 1978 "No One Is Innocent"/"My Way" single was followed in 1979 by the Vicious-sung cover of [[Eddie Cochran]]'s "[[Somethin' Else (Eddie Cochran song)|Something Else]]" (number three, and the biggest-selling single under the Sex Pistols name); Jones singing an original, "Silly Thing" (number six); and Vicious's second Cochran cover, "[[C'mon Everybody]]" (number three). Two more singles from the soundtrack were put out under the Sex Pistols name, with Tudor-Pole and others singing "The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle", and "(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone", which featured a Rotten vocal from 1976, ; both fell just shy of the Top Twenty.{{sfn|Savage|1992|pp=558–559}}{{sfn|Gimarc|2005|pp=145, 188, 196, 217}}

Meanwhile, Lydon initiated legal proceedings against McLaren and the Pistols' management company, Glitterbest, which McLaren controlled. Among the claims were non-payment of royalties, improper usage of the title "Johnny Rotten", unfair contractual obligations{{sfn|Roekens|2000–2006}} and damages for "all the criminal activities that took place".{{sfn|Verrico|1999}} Hearings began on 7 February 1979, five days after Vicious's death. Cook and Jones allied with McLaren, but as evidence mounted that their manager had spent virtually all of the band's revenue on his film project, they switched sides. On 14 February, the court put the film and its soundtrack into [[receivership]]—no longer under McLaren's control, they were now to be administered as exploitable assets for addressing the band members' financial claims. McLaren was left with substantial personal debts and legal fees.{{sfn|Savage|1992|pp=533–534, 537}}{{sfn|Strongman|2008|pp=242–243}}

==== Aftermath ====
After leaving the Pistols, Rotten reverted to his birth name of Lydon and formed the influential post-punk band [[Public Image Ltd]] with former Clash member [[Keith Levene]] and school friend [[Jah Wobble]]. The band scored a UK top-ten hit with their debut single, 1978's "[[Public Image (song)|Public Image]]".{{Sfn|Ruhlmann|2005}} 

Following their fall out with McLaren, Cook and Jones formed [[The Professionals (band)|the Professionals]], which lasted from 1979-1982.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Professionals Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & Mo... |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/professionals-mn0000896404 |access-date=2025-01-08 |website=AllMusic |language=en}}</ref> Jones went on to play with the bands Chequered Past and [[Neurotic Outsiders]]. He also recorded two solo albums, ''[[Mercy (Steve Jones album)|Mercy]]'' and ''[[Fire and Gasoline]]''.{{sfn|Singleton|2023}} As of 2017, Jones lives in Los Angeles, where he has hosted a daily radio programme, ''[[Steve Jones (musician)#Jonesy's Jukebox|Jonesy's Jukebox]]'', since 2015.{{sfn|Gensler|2016}}{{sfn|Dushane|2017}} Since the Rich Kids' break-up in 1979, Matlock has played with various bands, including recording and touring with [[Iggy Pop]] in 1980.{{sfn|Deming|2019|}}

McLaren went on to carry out a one-month consultancy for [[Adam and the Ants]] and manage their offshoot [[Bow Wow Wow]]. In the mid-1980s he released a series of successful and influential records as a solo artist.{{sfn|Malcolm McLaren|2005}}

''The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle'' film was eventually completed by Julien Temple, who received sole credit for the script after McLaren had his name taken off the production. Released in 1980, it heavily reflects McLaren's vision. It is a fictionalised and partially animated retelling of the band's history and aftermath with McLaren in the lead role, Jones as second lead, and contributions from Vicious (including his memorable performance of "My Way") and Cook. It incorporates promotional videos shot for "God Save the Queen" and "Pretty Vacant" and extensive documentary footage as well, much of it focusing on Rotten. In Temple's description, he and McLaren conceived it as a "very stylized{{nbsp}}... polemic". They were reacting to the fact that the Pistols had become the "poster on the bedroom wall of the day where you kneel down last thing at night and pray to your rock god. And that was never the point{{nbsp}}... The myth had to be dynamited in some way. We had to make this film in a way to enrage the fans."{{sfn|Salewicz|2001|pp=11:49–11:55, 13:19–13:36}} In the film, McLaren claims to have created the band from scratch and engineered its notorious reputation; much of what structure the loose narrative has is based on McLaren's teaching a series of "lessons" to be learned from "an invention of mine they called the punk rock".{{sfn|Salewicz|2001|pp=1:23–1:25}}{{sfn|Sex Pistols Swindle|2005}}

The 1979 court ruling left many issues between Lydon and McLaren unresolved. Five years later, Lydon filed another action. Finally, on 16 January 1986, Lydon, Jones, Cook and the estate of Sid Vicious were awarded control of the band's heritage, including the rights to ''The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle'' and all the footage shot for it—more than 250 hours.{{sfn|Savage|1992|pp=542–545, 554–555}}{{sfn|Lydon|2008|pp=286, 306}} That same year, the fictionalised film of Vicious's relationship with Spungen was released: ''[[Sid and Nancy]]'', directed by [[Alex Cox]]. In his autobiography, Lydon attacked the film, saying that it "celebrates heroin addiction", goes out of its way to "humiliate [Vicious's] life" and completely misrepresents the Sex Pistols' part in the London punk scene.{{sfn|Lydon|2008|pp=148–149}}

In May 2022 [[FX (TV channel)|FX]] released the miniseries ''[[Pistol (miniseries)|Pistol]]'' about the band.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Woodcock |first=Zara |date=2022-05-30 |title=Sex Pistols' John Lydon slams upcoming Pistols series as 'pile of nonsense' |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/sex-pistols-john-lydon-slams-27100504 |access-date=2023-12-15 |website=The Mirror |language=en |archive-date=15 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231215192705/https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/sex-pistols-john-lydon-slams-27100504 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==== Reunions ====

The original band members reunited in 1996 for the six-month Filthy Lucre tour, which included dates in Europe, North and South America, Australia and Japan.{{sfn|The Sex Pistols|2001}} Their access to the archives associated with ''The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle'' facilitated the production of the 2000 documentary ''[[The Filth and the Fury]]''. The film was also directed by Temple and formulated as an attempt to tell the story from the band's point of view, in contrast to ''Swindle''{{'}}s focus on McLaren and the media.{{sfn|Wyman|2000}} In 2002 the band reunited to play the [[Crystal Palace National Sports Centre]] in London. They undertook a short tour of North America in 2003.<ref>"[https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/the-sex-pistols-return-to-the-road-69913/ The Sex Pistols Return To The Road] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230719000845/https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/the-sex-pistols-return-to-the-road-69913/ |date=19 July 2023 }}". ''[[billboard]]'', 18 July 2003. Retrieved 19 July 2023</ref>

In March 2006, the band sold the rights to their back catalogue to [[Universal Music Group]]. In November 2006, the Sex Pistols were inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,{{sfn|2006 Inductees|2006}} but the band rejected the honour.{{sfn|Sex Pistol to Rock Hall|2006}} According to Jones, "once you want to be put into a museum, Rock & Roll's over; it's not voted by fans, it's voted by people who induct you&nbsp;... people who are already in it."{{sfn|Brand|2006}}

The Pistols reunited for seven performances in the UK in November 2007.{{sfn|Sex Pistols Reunion Is Expanded|2007}} In 2008, they undertook a series of European festival appearances, titled the Combine Harvester Tour. That same year, they released the DVD ''[[There'll Always Be An England (DVD)|There'll Always Be An England]]'', recorded at their Brixton Academy appearance on 10 November 2007.{{sfn|Sex Pistols Official|2023}} The band signed with Universal in 2012 to re-release ''Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols''.{{sfn|The Sex Pistols Sign New Record Deal|2012}}

[[File:SexPistolsRAH240325 (80 of 99) (54409673748).jpg|thumb|The Sex Pistols and [[Frank Carter (musician)|Frank Carter]] performing at the [[Royal Albert Hall]] on 24 March 2025]]
On 3 June 2024, Cook, Jones, and Matlock announced two reunion shows at the Bush Hall in Shepherds Bush billed as "[[Frank Carter (musician)|Frank Carter]] and Sex Pistols". Carter, of [[Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes]] and [[Gallows (band)|Gallows]], provided lead vocals in the absence of Lydon.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Damian |date=2024-06-03 |title=Frank Carter and Sex Pistols announce plans to play 'Never Mind The Bollocks' in its entirety |url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/frank-carter-and-sex-pistols-announce-plans-to-play-never-mind-the-bollocks-in-its-entirety-3761808 |access-date=2024-06-17 |website=NME |language=en-GB}}</ref> They played the sole Sex Pistols studio album ''[[Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols]]'' in its entirety.<ref name=":0" /> On 25 August they headlined along with [[Editors (band)|Editors]], the 2024 AMA Music Festival.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.mojo4music.com/articles/stories/sex-pistols-and-frank-carter-review/ | title=Sex Pistols and Frank Carter Review: Gallows frontman is Rotten to the core in raucous punk reunion|website=Mojo4music.com | date=11 November 2024 }}</ref> A UK tour was later announced for September 2024, which was officially billed as "Frank Carter and Paul Cook, Steve Jones, Glen Matlock of the Sex Pistols do Never Mind the Bollocks".<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.kerrang.com/frank-carter-and-the-sex-pistols-announce-four-new-uk-shows | title=Frank Carter and the Sex Pistols announce four new UK shows|website=Kerrang.com | date=22 August 2024 }}</ref> On 20 September they played the Rock City venue in Nottingham,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.rock-city.co.uk/gigs/frank-carter-the-sex-pistols-rock-city-nottingham-tickets-2024/ | title=FRANK CARTER & THE SEX PISTOLS &#124; Rock City &#124; Nottingham|website=Rock-city.co.uk}}</ref> the next day the Birmingham o2 Academy <ref>{{cite web | url=https://foxreviewsrock.com/2024/09/26/frank-carter-the-sex-pistols/ | title=Frank Carter & the Sex Pistols – O2 Academy Birmingham UK|website=Foxreviewsrock.com | date=26 September 2024 }}</ref> and on 26 September they played in London, Kentish Town.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://metalplanetmusic.com/2024/09/gig-review-frank-carter-and-paul-cook-steve-jones-glen-matlock-of-the-sex-pistols-o2-forum-kentish-town/ | title=Gig Review : Frank Carter and Paul Cook, Steve Jones, Glen Matlock of the Sex Pistols – O2 Forum, Kentish Town|website=Metalplanetmusic.com | date=28 September 2024 }}</ref> On 12 November 2024, they were announced as part of the 2025 [[Download Festival]] lineup.<ref>[https://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/whats-on/music-nightlife/download-festival-2025-lineup-green-9709097 Green Day playing Download Festival 2025 with McFly and Sex Pistols - full lineup], ''Derbyshire Telegraph''. 12 November 2024. Retrieved 13 November 2024.</ref> In January 2025, they announced their first Australian tour since 1996, which took place in April.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Varvaris |first1=Mary |title=Sex Pistols Featuring Frank Carter Announce 2025 Australian Tour |url=https://themusic.com.au/news/sex-pistols-featuring-frank-carter-announce-2025-australian-tour/WAHmSk1MT04/17-01-25 |website=Themusic.com.au  |access-date=17 January 2025}}</ref>

==Musical style==
The Sex Pistols were a [[punk rock]] band. According to Mark Deming of [[AllMusic]], {{quote|"The Sex Pistols' music was not formally groundbreaking, yet their simple meat-and-potatoes rock was filled with a power and aggression that was all but unknown in the mid-'70s, and the ferocious, sneering vocals of Johnny Rotten (as well as his pointed, accusatory lyrics) upended all expectations of how a rock frontman should look or sound. Even as the media treated them as pariahs, the potency of their music and their image spoke to an audience waiting for something different than the prog and soft rock sounds that ruled the charts in the 1970s, sparking a revolution that is still playing itself out."<ref>{{cite web |title=Sex Pistols Biography by Mark Deming |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/sex-pistols-mn0000418740#biography |website=AllMusic}}</ref>}}

== Legacy ==
=== Influence ===
The Sex Pistols are widely regarded as one of the most influential acts in [[popular music]] history.{{sfn|Sheldon|Skinner|2006|pp=29–3}}{{sfn|Sex Pistols Biography|2023}} Their ''[[Trouser Press]] Record Guide'' entry claims that "their importance—both to the direction of contemporary music and more generally to pop culture—can hardly be overstated".{{sfn|Sex Pistols|2023}} The music critic [[Dave Marsh]] called them "unquestionably the most radical new rock band of the Seventies".{{sfn|Marsh|1983|p= 456}} Although not the first punk band, ''Never Mind the Bollocks'' is regularly cited as one of the all-time great albums: in 2006, it was voted No.&nbsp;28 in ''[[Q (magazine)|Q]]'' magazine's "100 Greatest Albums Ever",{{sfn|100 Greatest Albums Ever|2006}} while ''Rolling Stone'' listed it at No.&nbsp;2 in its 1987 "Top 100 Albums of the Last 20 Years".{{sfn|Rolling Stone|1987}} It has come to be recognised as among the most influential records in rock history.{{sfn|Sex Pistols Reunion Is Expanded|2007}}{{sfn|Edwards|2008}}{{sfn|Sex Pistols Reform|2007}}{{sfn|Sex Pistols Reunion To Make Live Comeback|2007}} According to [[AllMusic]], the album is "one of the greatest, most inspiring rock records of all time".{{sfn|Huey|2023}}

They directly inspired the style of many punk and post-punk bands, including the Clash,{{sfn|Robb|2006|pp=151, 155, 162}} Siouxsie and the Banshees,{{sfn|Robb|2006|p=122}}{{sfn|Paytress|2003|p=48}} [[the Adverts]],{{sfn|Robb|2006|pp=179–181}} [[Subway Sect]]{{sfn|Robb|2006|p=149}} and [[the Slits]].{{sfn|Robb|2006|p=208}} Their [[4 June and 20 July 1976]] performances at Manchester's Lesser Free Trade Hall became one of the most mythologised events in rock history. Many among the audience of about forty became leading figures in the punk and post-punk movements, including Pete Shelley and Howard Devoto, who organised the gig, [[Bernard Sumner]], [[Ian Curtis]], [[Peter Hook]], [[Mark E. Smith]], [[John Cooper Clarke]], [[Morrissey]] and [[Anthony H. Wilson]].{{sfn|Sex Pistols Gig|2006}} Among the many later musicians who have acknowledged their debt to the Pistols are members of [[the Jesus and Mary Chain]],{{sfn|Sladeckova|2002}} [[the Stone Roses]],{{sfn|Green|2006|p= 98}} [[Guns N' Roses]],{{sfn|Wall|2008|pp=11, 38, 113, 118, 136}} [[Nirvana (band)|Nirvana]],{{sfn|Kurt Cobain Biography}} [[Green Day]]{{sfn|Armstrong|2004}} and [[Oasis (band)|Oasis]].{{sfn|Harris|2004|p=144}} Calling the band "immensely influential", a [[London College of Music]] study notes that "many styles of popular music, such as grunge, indie, thrash metal and even rap owe their foundations to the legacy of ground breaking punk bands—of which the Sex Pistols was the most prominent."{{sfn|Sheldon|Skinner|2006|pp=29–3}}

[[File:Sid vicious madrid.jpg|thumb|Graffiti of Vicious, Madrid]]
According to the music journalist Ira Robbins, "the Pistols and&nbsp;... McLaren challenged every aspect and precept of modern music-making, thereby inspiring countless groups to follow their cue onto stages around the world."{{sfn|Robbins|1991|p=585}} Critic Toby Creswell locates the primary source of inspiration somewhat differently. Noting that "[i]mage to the contrary, the Pistols were very serious about music", Creswell wrote that "essentially, the Sex Pistols reinforced what the garage bands of the '60s had demonstrated—you don't need technique to make rock & roll. In a time when music had been increasingly complicated and defanged, the Sex Pistols' generational shift caused a real revolution."{{sfn|Creswell|2006|p=735}}

Their cultural influence is evident in other media. Reid's work for the band is regarded as among the most important graphic design of the 1970s and still influences the field in the 21st century.{{sfn|Raimes|Bhaskaran|Renow-Clarke|2007|p=164}}{{sfn|Reid|2004|pp=46–48}} Aged twenty-one, Vicious was already a "t-shirt-selling icon".{{sfn|Strongman|2008|p=235}} While the manner of his death signified for many the inevitable failure of punk's social ambitions, it cemented his image as an archetype of doomed youth.{{sfn|Savage|1992|p=530}} British [[punk fashion]], still widely influential, is now customarily credited to Westwood and McLaren; as Johnny Rotten, Lydon had a lasting effect as well, especially through his [[bricolage]] approach to personal style: he would wear a [[teddy boy|ted]] style velvet collared drape jacket, large pin-stripe pegs, a pin-collar Wemblex customised into an Anarchy shirt and [[brothel creepers]].{{sfn|Douglas|1999|pp=188–189}}{{sfn|Savage|1992|p=72}} [[Christopher Nolan]], director of the [[Batman]] movie ''[[The Dark Knight]]'', has said that Rotten inspired his characterisation of [[Joker (The Dark Knight)|The Joker]].{{sfn|Bentley|2008}}

=== Conceptual basis ===
The Sex Pistols were defined by ambitions that went beyond the musical—indeed, McLaren was at times openly contemptuous of the band's music and punk rock generally. "Christ, if people bought the records for the music, this thing would have died a death long ago", he said in 1977.{{sfn|Reynolds|2007|p=89}} He claimed that the Sex Pistols were his personal, [[Situationist]]-style art project: "I decided to use people, just the way a sculptor uses clay."{{sfn|Reynolds|2007|p=89}} According to McLaren, they were something with which "to sell trousers"{{sfn|Hibbert|1989}} and a "carefully planned exercise to embezzle as much money as possible out of the music industry". Jon Savage characterises McLaren's core theme in ''The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle''{{sfn|Savage|1992|p=499}} as an attempt to extract "cash from chaos".{{refn|The line, which became known as a catchphrase of McLaren's, appears in the lyric of the title track (credited to Jones, Cook and Temple) (6:59–7:02); as a motto on a conveniently placed [[coat of arms]] (21:30–21:36); and in large letters on a T-shirt won by McLaren in several scenes (first fully visible: 26:26–26:51; partly visible in three subsequent scenes). See also Temple's script for the film's promotional video.{{sfn|Gimarc|2005|pp=328–329}}|group=note}}

Lydon dismissed McLaren's influence: "We made our own scandal just by being ourselves. Maybe it was that he knew he was redundant, so he overcompensated. All the talk about the French Situationists being associated with punk is bollocks. It's nonsense!"{{sfn|Lydon|2008|p=3}} Cook agreed and said that "Situationism had nothing to do with us. The Jamie Reids and Malcolms were excited because we were the real thing. I suppose we were what they were dreaming of."{{sfn|Lydon2008|p=186}} According to Lydon, "If we had an aim, it was to force our own, working-class opinions into the mainstream, which was unheard of in pop music at the time."{{sfn|Verrico|1999}}

Toby Creswell argues that the Pistols message was "inchoate, to say the least. It was a general call to rebellion that falls apart at the slightest scrutiny."{{sfn|Creswell|2006|p=735}} Critic Ian Birch, writing in 1981, called "stupid" the claim that the Sex Pistols "had any political significance{{nbsp}}... If they did anything, they made a lot of people content with being nothing. They certainly didn't inspire the working classes."{{sfn|Mulholland|2003|p=68}} While the [[1979 United Kingdom general election|Conservative triumph in 1979]] may be taken as evidence for that position, Julien Temple has noted that the scene inspired by the Sex Pistols "wasn't your kind of two-up, two-down working class normal families, most of it. It was over the edge of the precipice in social terms. They were actually giving a voice to an area of the working class that was almost beyond the pale."{{sfn|Salewicz|2001|pp=1:13–1:28}} Within a year of "Anarchy in the U.K.", that voice was being echoed widely: scores if not hundreds of punk bands had formed across the country—groups composed largely of working-class members or middle-class members who rejected their own class values and pursued solidarity with the working class.{{sfn|Albiez|2006|p=100}}{{sfn|Henry|1989|p=xi}}

In 1980, critic [[Greil Marcus]] reflected on McLaren's contradictory posture:{{sfn|Hatch|Millward|1989|p=170}}
{{bq|It may be that in the mind of their self-celebrated Svengali{{nbsp}}... the Sex Pistols were never meant to be more than a nine-month wonder, a cheap vehicle for some fast money, a few laughs, a touch of the old ''[[épater la bourgeoisie]]''. It may also be that in the mind of their chief terrorist and propagandist, anarchist veteran{{nbsp}}... and Situational artist McLaren, the Sex Pistols were meant to be a force that would set the world on its ear{{nbsp}}... and finally unite music and politics. The Sex Pistols were all of these things.}}

[[File:Sex Pistols in Paradiso - Johnny Rotten 2.jpg|thumb|Johnny Rotten on stage in Paradiso, Amsterdam, January 1977]]

Critic Bill Wyman writes that Lydon's "fierce intelligence and astonishing onstage charisma" were important catalysts, but ultimately finds the band's real meaning lies in McLaren's provocative media manipulations.{{sfn|Wyman|2000}} While some of the Sex Pistols' public affronts were plotted by McLaren, Westwood, and company, others were evidently not—including what McLaren himself cites as the "pivotal moment that changed everything",{{sfn|McLaren|2007}} the clash on the Bill Grundy ''Today'' show.{{refn|See, for instance, Temple's commentary: "[It] was not planned at all. It was totally spontaneous. And as the band will tell you, Malcolm said, 'You've blown it. You've ruined everything I've worked for'" (Temple, Julien, "Commentary", 27:26–27:33); and Matlock's confirmation (Matlock, Glen, ''I Was a Teenage Sex Pistol'', pp. 145, 147)|group=note}} According to Cook, McLaren "didn't instigate [situations]; that was always our own doing."{{sfn|Savage|1992|p=338}} Matlock said that at the point when he left the band, it was clear to him that McLaren "was in fact quite deliberately perpetrating that idea of us as his puppets{{nbsp}}... However, I've since found out that even Malcolm wasn't as aware of what he was up to as he has since made out."{{sfn|Matlock|1990|p=170}} By his absence, Matlock demonstrated how crucial he was to the band's creativity: the band only wrote two songs in the eleven months between his departure and their break-up.{{sfn|Strongman|2008|p=198}}

== Band members ==

=== Current members ===
* [[Steve Jones (musician)|Steve Jones]]&nbsp;– guitar, backing vocals (1975–1978, 1996, 2002–2003, 2007–2008, 2024–present), bass (1977),{{sfn|Hartmann|2017}} lead vocals (1975)
* [[Paul Cook]]&nbsp;– drums, occasional vocals (1975–1978, 1996, 2002–2003, 2007–2008, 2024–present)
* [[Glen Matlock]]&nbsp;– bass, backing vocals (1975–1977, 1996, 2002–2003, 2007–2008, 2024–present)

=== Current touring musicians ===
* [[Frank Carter (musician)|Frank Carter]] – lead vocals (2024–present)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dunworth |first=Liberty |date=2024-06-20 |title=Frank Carter says Sex Pistols are reaction to government "dismantling the idea of community" |url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/frank-carter-interview-download-2024-sex-pistol-shows-3767041 |access-date=2024-07-16 |website=NME |language=en-GB}}</ref>

=== Former members ===
* [[Johnny Rotten]]&nbsp;– lead vocals (1975–1978, 1996, 2002–2003, 2007–2008)
* [[Wally Nightingale]] – guitar (1975; died 1996)
* [[Nick Kent]] – lead guitar (1975)
* [[Steve New]] – lead guitar (1975; died 2010)
* [[Sid Vicious]]&nbsp;– bass, backing and lead vocals (1977–1978; died 1979)<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-06-20 |title=Sid Vicious- timeline |url=https://www.jungle-records.net/index.php/12-newreleases/52-sid-vicious |access-date=2025-04-13 |website=NME |language=en-GB}}</ref>

=== Timeline ===
{{#tag:timeline|
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ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1975

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 id:vox     value:red         legend:Lead_vocals
 id:bvox    value:pink        legend:Backing_vocals
 id:guitar  value:green       legend:Guitars
 id:bass    value:blue        legend:Bass
 id:drums   value:orange      legend:Drums
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 id:studio  value:black       legend:Studio_release

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 bar:Nick      text:"Nick Kent"
 bar:Steve1    text:"Steve New"
 bar:Glen      text:"Glen Matlock"
 bar:Sid       text:"Sid Vicious"
 bar:Paul      text:"Paul Cook"

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 bar:Johnny from:06/01/2007 till:06/30/2008 color:vox
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 bar:Steve1 from:07/01/1975 till:08/01/1975 color:guitar
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 bar:Glen from:start till:02/01/1977 color:bass
 bar:Glen from:01/01/1996 till:07/01/1996 color:bass
 bar:Glen from:01/01/2002 till:06/30/2003 color:bass
 bar:Glen from:06/01/2007 till:06/30/2008 color:bass
 bar:Glen from:01/01/2024 till:end color:bass
 bar:Sid from:02/01/1977 till:01/14/1978 color:bass
 bar:Paul from:start till:12/30/1978 color:drums
 bar:Paul from:01/01/1996 till:07/01/1996 color:drums
 bar:Paul from:01/01/2002 till:06/30/2003 color:drums
 bar:Paul from:06/01/2007 till:06/30/2008 color:drums
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 width:3
 bar:Steve2 from:05/01/1975 till:08/01/1975 color:vox
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 bar:Steve2 from:01/01/1996 till:07/01/1996 color:bvox
 bar:Steve2 from:01/01/2002 till:06/30/2003 color:bvox
 bar:Steve2 from:06/01/2007 till:06/30/2008 color:bvox
 bar:Steve2 from:01/01/2024 till:end color:bvox
 bar:Glen from:start till:02/01/1977 color:bvox
 bar:Glen from:01/01/1996 till:07/01/1996 color:bvox
 bar:Glen from:01/01/2002 till:06/30/2003 color:bvox
 bar:Glen from:06/01/2007 till:06/30/2008 color:bvox
 bar:Glen from:01/01/2024 till:end color:bvox
 bar:Sid from:02/01/1977 till:12/25/1977 color:bvox
 bar:Sid from:12/25/1977 till:08/15/1978 color:vox
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 bar:Frank from:01/01/2024 till:end color:tour

 width:7
 bar:Steve2 from:06/01/1977 till:12/31/1978 color:bass

}}

==Discography==
{{Main|Sex Pistols discography}}

===Studio album===
* ''[[Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols]]'' (1977)

== Notes ==
{{reflist|group=note}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|colwidth=25em}}

=== Book sources ===
{{refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}
* {{cite book|last1=Albiez|first1=Sean|chapter=Print the Truth, Not the Legend. The Sex Pistols: Lesser Free Trade Hall, Manchester, 4 June 1976|title=Performance and Popular Music: History, Place and Time|editor-first1=Ian|editor-last1=Inglis|publisher=Ashgate|year=2006|isbn=0-7546-4057-4}}
* {{cite book|last1=Creswell|first1=Toby|title=1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time and the Artists, Stories and Secrets Behind Them|publisher=Thunder's Mouth Press|year=2006|isbn=1-56025-915-9}}
* {{cite book|last1=Douglas|first1=Mark|chapter=Fashions, Youth|title=Encyclopedia of Contemporary British Culture|editor-first1=Peter |editor-last1=Childs|editor-first2=Mike|editor-last2=Storry|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=1999|isbn=0-415-14726-3}}
* {{cite book|last1=Evans|first1=Mike|title=Rock 'n' Roll's Strangest Moments: Extraordinary Tales from Over Fifty Years of Rock Music History|publisher=Robson|year=2006|isbn=1-86105-923-X}}
* {{cite book|last1=Gimarc|first1=George|title=Punk Diary: The Ultimate Trainspotter's Guide to Underground Rock, 1970–1982|publisher=Backbeat|year=2005|isbn=0-87930-848-6}}
* {{cite book|last1=Green|first1=Alex|title=The Stone Roses|publisher=Continuum|year=2006|isbn=0-8264-1742-6}}
* {{cite book|last1=Harris|first1=John|title=Britpop!: Cool Britannia and the Spectacular Demise of English Rock|publisher=Da Capo|year=2004|isbn=0-306-81367-X}}
* {{cite book|last1=Hatch|first1=David|first2=Stephen |last2=Millward|title=From Blues to Rock: An Analytical History of Pop Music|publisher=Manchester University Press|year=1989|isbn=0-7190-2349-1}}
* {{cite book|last1=Henry|first1=Tricia|title=Break All Rules!: Punk Rock and the Making of a Style|publisher=University of Michigan Press|year=1989|isbn=0-8357-1980-4}}
* {{cite book|last1=Jones|first1=Steve|author-link1=Steve Jones (musician)|title=Lonely Boy: Tales from a Sex Pistol|publisher=Windmill Books|year=2016|isbn=978-0-306-90317-5}}
* {{cite book|last1=Lydon|first1=John|author-link1=John Lydon|others=with Keith and Kent Zimmerman|title=[[Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs]]|publisher=Farrar, Straus, and Giroux|date=2008|orig-date=1994|isbn=978-0-312-42813-6}}
* {{cite book|last1=Marsh|first1=Dave|author-link1=Dave Marsh|chapter=The Sex Pistols|title=The New Rolling Stone Record Guide|editor-first1=D.|editor-last1=Marsh|editor-first2=J.|editor-last2=Swenson|publisher=Random House|year=1983|isbn=0-394-72107-1}}
* {{cite book|last1=Matlock|first1=Glen|author-link1=Glen Matlock|others=with Pete Silverton|title=I Was A Teenage Sex Pistol|publisher=Omnibus Press|year=1990|isbn=0-7119-1817-1}}
* {{cite book|last1=McNeil|first1=Legs|author-link1=Legs McNeil|editor-first1=G.|editor-last1=McCain|title=Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk|publisher=Grove Press|year=1996|isbn=0-349-10880-3}}
* {{cite book|last1=Molon|first1=Dominic|chapter=Made with the Highest British Attention to the Wrong Detail: The UK|title=Sympathy for the Devil: Art and Rock and Roll Since 1967|editor-first1=Dominic|editor-last1=Molon|publisher=Yale University Press|year=2007|isbn=978-0-300-13426-1}}
* {{cite book|last1=Monk|first1=Noel|first2=Jimmy|last2=Guterman|title=12 Days on the Road: The Sex Pistols and America|publisher=Harper Paperbacks|year=1992|isbn=0-688-11274-9}}
* {{cite book|last1=Mulholland|first1=Neil|title=The Cultural Devolution: Art in Britain in the Late Twentieth Century|publisher=Ashgate|year=2003|isbn=0-7546-0392-X}}
* {{cite book|last1=Nolan|first1=David|title=[[Tony Wilson]] - You're Entitled to an Opinion: The High Times and Many Lives of Tony Wilson, Factory Records and the Hacienda|publisher=John Blake Publishing |year=2009|isbn=978-1-844-54863-7}}
* {{cite book|last1=Pardo|first1=Alona|chapter=Jamie Reid|title=Communicate: Independent British Graphic Design Since the Sixties|editor-first1=Rick|editor-last1=Poyner|publisher=Yale University Press|year=2004|isbn=0-300-10684-X}}
* {{cite book |last1=Parker |first1=A.|date=2007|title=Sid Vicious: No One Is Innocent |publisher=Orion |isbn=9780752875460|edition=1st}}
* {{cite book|last1=Paytress|first1=Mark|title=Siouxsie & the Banshees: The Authorised Biography|publisher=Sanctuary|year=2003|isbn=1-86074-375-7}}
* {{cite book|last1=Raimes|first1=Jonathan|first2=Lakshmi|last2=Bhaskaran|first3=Ben |last3=Renow-Clarke|title=Retro Graphics: A Visual Sourcebook to 100 Years of Graphic Design|publisher=Chronicle Books|year=2007|isbn=978-0-8118-5508-2}}
* {{cite book|last1=Reynolds|first1=Simon|author-link1=Simon Reynolds|title=Rip It Up and Start Again: Post Punk 1978–1984|publisher=Faber and Faber|year=2006|isbn=0-571-21570-X}}
* {{cite book|last1=Reynolds|first1=Simon|chapter=Ono, Eno, Arto: Nonmusicians and the Emergence of Concept Rock"|title=Sympathy for the Devil: Art and Rock and Roll Since 1967|editor-first1=Dominic|editor-last1=Molon|publisher=Yale University Press|year=2007|isbn=978-0-300-13426-1}}
* {{cite book|last=Robb |first=John|author-link1=John Robb (musician)|title=Punk Rock: An Oral History |date=2006|publisher=Random House |isbn=978-1-40903-436-0 }}
* {{cite book|last1=Robbins|first1=Ira|chapter=Sex Pistols"|title=The Trouser Press Record Guide|edition=4th|editor-first1=Ira |editor-last1=Robbins|publisher=Collier|year=1991|isbn=0-02-036361-3}}
* {{cite book|last1=Salewicz|first1=Chris|title=Interview with Julien Temple by Chris Salewicz|series=The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle{{snd}}DVD bonus feature|publisher=Shout! Factory|year=2001|isbn=0-7389-3199-3}}
* {{Cite book |last=Savage |first=Jon|author-link1=Jon Savage|title=England's Dreaming |date=1992|publisher=Faber & Faber|isbn=978-0-57136-854-9 }}
* {{cite book|last1=Sheldon|first1=Camilla|first2=Tony|last2=Skinner|title=Popular Music Theory—Grade: 4|publisher=Registry|year=2006|isbn=1-898466-44-0}}
* {{cite web|last1=Spong|first1=John|title=On Tour with the Sex Pistols|url=https://www.texasmonthly.com/the-culture/on-tour-with-the-sex-pistols/|website=Texas Monthly|date=29 January 2014|access-date=26 October 2023|archive-date=13 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230713041151/https://www.texasmonthly.com/the-culture/on-tour-with-the-sex-pistols/|url-status=live}}
* {{Cite book |last=Strongman |first=Phil|title=Pretty Vacant: A History of UK Punk |date=2008 |publisher=Chicago Review Press|isbn=978-1-55652-752-4 }}
* {{cite book|last1=Taylor|first1=Steven|title=False Prophet: Fieldnotes from the Punk Underground|publisher=Wesleyan University Press|year=2004|isbn=0-8195-6668-3}}
* {{cite book|last1=Temple|first1=Julien|author-link1=Julien Temple|title=The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle (DVD)|publisher=Shout! Factory|orig-date=1980|year=2001|isbn=0-7389-3199-3}}
* {{cite book|last1=Thompson|first1=Dave|title=Alternative Rock|publisher=Hal Leonard|year=2000|isbn=0-87930-607-6}}
* {{cite book|last1=Vermorel|first1=Fred|first2=Judy|last2=Vermorel|title=Sex Pistols: The Inside Story|publisher=Omnibus Press|year=1987|orig-date=1978|isbn=0-7119-1090-1}}
* {{cite book|last1=Wall|first1=Mick|title=W.A.R.: The Unauthorized Biography of William Axl Rose|publisher=Macmillan|year=2008|isbn=978-0-312-37767-0}}
{{refend}}

===Other sources===
{{refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}
* {{cite magazine |title=100 Greatest Albums Ever |journal=Q Magazine |date= February 2006 |volume=235  |ref= {{harvid|100 Greatest Albums Ever|2006}} }}
* {{cite web | title=2006 Inductees: Sex Pistols | publisher=[[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]] | date=2006 | url=http://www.rockhall.com/hof/inductee.asp?id=2408 | access-date=11 October 2006 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061017152044/http://www.rockhall.com/hof/inductee.asp?id=2408 | archive-date=17 October 2006 | ref={{harvid|2006 Inductees|2006}} }}
* {{cite magazine|last=Armstrong|first=Billie Joe|date=15 April 2004|title=The Sex Pistols|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/7235474/58_the_sex_pistols|access-date=17 March 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080619012115/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/7235474/58_the_sex_pistols|archive-date=19 June 2008|url-status=dead}}
* {{cite news| last=Beaumont-Thomas| first=Ben| date=3 May 2022| title=Still a fascist regime? Sex Pistols' God Save the Queen reissued to mark platinum jubileel| work=[[The Guardian|Guardian]]| url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/may/03/still-a-fascist-regime-sex-pistols-god-save-the-queen-reissued-to-mark-platinum-jubilee| access-date=16 November 2009| location=London| archive-date=3 May 2022| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220503112810/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/may/03/still-a-fascist-regime-sex-pistols-god-save-the-queen-reissued-to-mark-platinum-jubilee| url-status=live}}
* {{cite web| last=Bell-Price| first=Shannon| year=2006| title=Vivienne Westwood and the Postmodern Legacy of Punk Style| publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art| location=New York| url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/vivw/hd_vivw.htm| access-date=7 October 2006| archive-date=16 October 2022| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221016125321/https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/vivw/hd_vivw.htm| url-status=live}}
* {{cite web | last=Bentley | first=D. | date=17 June 2008 | title=Punk Rock Pioneer an Inspiration for Heath Ledger's Joker | work=Coventry Telegraph | url=http://blogs.coventrytelegraph.net/cgi-bin/mtcs4/mt-search.cgi?tag=johnny%20rotten&blog_id=44&IncludeBlogs=44 | access-date=18 July 2008 }}{{dead link|date=June 2010 |bot=DASHBot }}
* {{cite web | last=Brand | first=Madeleine | year=2006 | title=Sex Pistols' Steve Jones, Just Saying No | publisher=[[NPR]] | url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5259850 | access-date=6 October 2006 | archive-date=24 December 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071224111226/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5259850 | url-status=live }}
* {{cite magazine|last=Coon|first=C.|date=2 October 1976|title=Parade of the Punks|magazine=[[Melody Maker]]}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Cooper |first1=M. |title=The Sex Pistols: Winterland, San Francisco |journal=Record Mirror |date=28 January 1978}}
* {{cite news| last=de Jongh| first=Nicholas| date=10 November 1977| title=Punk Record Is a Load of Legal Trouble| work=Guardian| url=https://www.theguardian.com/century/1970-1979/Story/0,,106929,00.html| access-date=31 March 2009| location=London| archive-date=24 July 2008| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080724092419/http://century.guardian.co.uk/1970-1979/Story/0,,106929,00.html| url-status=live}}
* {{cite web| last=Deming| first=Mark| date=2019| title=''Soldier''| website=Allmusic| url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/soldier-mw0000067115| access-date=7 August 2023| archive-date=7 August 2023| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230807022313/https://www.allmusic.com/album/soldier-mw0000067115| url-status=live}}
* {{cite news|last=Dushane|first=Tony|date=3 March 2017|title=Steve Jones is and will always be punker than you. And he has a memoir|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|url=https://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-ca-jc-steve-jones-20170303-story.html|access-date=26 October 2023|archive-date=25 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231025223252/https://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-ca-jc-steve-jones-20170303-story.html|url-status=live}}
* {{cite web|last=Edinburgh Festival|url=https://edinburghfestival.list.co.uk/event/420316-glen-matlock-i-was-a-teenage-sex-pistol/|title=Interview: Glen Matlock bring I Was a Teenage Sex Pistol show to 2014 Edinburgh Festival Fringe|publisher=[[Edinburgh Festival]]|date=30 July 2014|access-date=8 June 2022|archive-date=20 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140720100438/https://edinburghfestival.list.co.uk/event/420316-glen-matlock-i-was-a-teenage-sex-pistol/|url-status=dead}}
* {{cite news | last=Edwards | first=Mark | title=The Most Influential Albums Ever | work=The Sunday Times | date=3 February 2008 | url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article3277332.ece | access-date=20 March 2009 | location=London | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080829190616/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article3277332.ece | archive-date=29 August 2008 | url-status=dead }}
* {{cite magazine|last=Gaston|first=Peter|date=8 April 2010|title=Sex Pistols Mastermind Malcolm McLaren Dies|magazine=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]|url=https://www.spin.com/2010/04/sex-pistols-mastermind-malcolm-mclaren-dies|access-date=26 October 2023|archive-date=23 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231023061854/https://www.spin.com/2010/04/sex-pistols-mastermind-malcolm-mclaren-dies/|url-status=live}}
* {{cite magazine |last1=Gensler |first1=Andy |title=Ex-Sex Pistol Steve Jones Brings His Fiery Radio Show Back to L.A. |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |url=https://www.billboard.com/pro/steve-jones-radio-show-los-angeles-sex-pistols/ |date=28 January 2016 |access-date=26 October 2023 |archive-date=25 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231025231315/https://www.billboard.com/pro/steve-jones-radio-show-los-angeles-sex-pistols/ |url-status=live }}
* {{cite web |last1=Hartmann |first1=Graham |title=The Sex Pistols – Wikipedia: Fact or Fiction? |website=Loudwire |url=https://loudwire.com/sex-pistols-paul-cook-wikipedia-fact-or-fiction/ |date=8 November 2017 |access-date=10 July 2023 |archive-date=13 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230713040355/https://loudwire.com/sex-pistols-paul-cook-wikipedia-fact-or-fiction/ |url-status=live }}
* {{cite journal|last=Hibbert|first=T.|issue=August|date=1989|title=Pernicious? Moi? (interview with Malcolm McLaren)|journal=Q}}
* {{cite web| last=Huey| first=Steve| year=2005| title=Sid Vicious: Biography| publisher=VH1| url=http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/vicious_sid/bio.jhtml| access-date=7 October 2006| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070109063400/http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/vicious_sid/bio.jhtml| archive-date=9 January 2007| df=dmy-all}}
* {{cite web| last=Huey| first=Steve| date=2023| title=''Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols''| website=Allmusic| url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/never-mind-the-bollocks-heres-the-sex-pistols-mw0000199637| access-date=4 December 2010| archive-date=26 April 2023| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230426184209/https://www.allmusic.com/album/never-mind-the-bollocks-heres-the-sex-pistols-mw0000199637| url-status=live}}
* {{cite web|last=Ingham|first=Jonh|author-link=Jonh Ingham|date=31 July 1976|title=Sex Pistols/Buzzcocks—Lesser Free Trade Hall, Manchester|work=Sounds|publisher=Jonh Ingham—My Back Pages|publication-date=4 April 2008|url=http://jonh-ingham.blogspot.com/2008/04/sex-pistolsbuzzcocks-lesser-free-trade.html|access-date=19 March 2009|archive-date=1 June 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080601202418/http://jonh-ingham.blogspot.com/2008/04/sex-pistolsbuzzcocks-lesser-free-trade.html|url-status=live}}
* {{cite web| title=Jubilee Riverboat| date=1977| publisher=[[BFI]]| url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/344274| access-date=31 March 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090519031206/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/344274| archive-date=19 May 2009| url-status=dead| ref={{harvid|Jubilee Riverboat|1977}}}}
* {{cite magazine |last= Kelly |first= Laura |url= https://www.rollingstone.com/feature/a-report-on-the-sex-pistols-119989/ |title= Glen Matlock: 'I heard The Beatles and immediately wanted to start the Sex Pistols' |magazine= [[Rolling Stone]] |date= 3 December 2021 |access-date= 23 July 2023 |archive-date= 5 November 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20211105070423/https://www.rollingstone.com/feature/a-report-on-the-sex-pistols-119989/ |url-status= live }}
* {{cite magazine |last1=Knopper |first1=Steve |title=Sex Pistols in America: A Brief, Raucous History of the Punk Icons' Doomed U.S. Tour. |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/concerts/sex-pistols-u-s-tour-history-1978-1235080219/ |date=2 June 2022 |access-date=4 November 2023 |archive-date=4 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231104002328/https://www.billboard.com/music/concerts/sex-pistols-u-s-tour-history-1978-1235080219/ |url-status=live }}
* {{cite web| title=Kurt Cobain Biography| publisher=Biography Channel| url=http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/kurt-cobain.html| access-date=11 October 2006| url-status=dead| date=2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091202091657/http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/kurt-cobain.html| archive-date=2 December 2009| df=dmy-all| ref={{harvid|Kurt Cobain Biography}}}}
* {{cite news | last=Leigh | first=Spencer | date=20 February 1998 | title=Music: Charting the Number Ones That Somehow Got Away | newspaper=The Independent | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/music-charting-the-number-ones-that-somehow-got-away-1145809.html | access-date=18 March 2009 | location=London | archive-date=1 February 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120201091918/http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/music-charting-the-number-ones-that-somehow-got-away-1145809.html | url-status=live }}
* {{cite web| title=Malcolm McLaren| publisher=[[VH1]]| year=2005| url=http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/mclaren_malcolm/bio.jhtml| access-date=3 October 2006| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060717214348/http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/mclaren_malcolm/bio.jhtml| archive-date=17 July 2006| df=dmy-all| ref={{harvid|Malcolm McLaren|2005}}}}
* {{cite web | last=McKenna | first=Kristine | year=2005 | title=Q&A with Steve Jones | publisher=Rhino Magazine | url=http://rhinomedia.com/rzine/storykeeper.lasso?storyID=779 | access-date=4 December 2010 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715180804/http://rhinomedia.com/rzine/storykeeper.lasso?storyID=779 | archive-date=15 July 2011 | df=dmy-all }}
* {{cite news| last=McLaren| first=Malcolm| author-link=Malcolm McLaren| date=15 September 2007| title=Searching for a Way to Break the Rules| work=Guardian| url=https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2007/sep/15/greatinterviews2| access-date=23 March 2009| location=London| archive-date=25 January 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090125230851/http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2007/sep/15/greatinterviews2| url-status=live}}
* {{cite web|title=Midge Ure interview|publisher=Global Friends of Scotland|date=2009|url=http://www.friendsofscotland.gov.uk/scotlandnow/issue-05/arts/midge-ure-interview.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090106182548/http://www.friendsofscotland.gov.uk/scotlandnow/issue-05/arts/midge-ure-interview.html|archive-date=6 January 2009|ref={{harvid|Midge Ure interview|2009}}}}
* {{cite news| last=Morley| first=Paul| author-link=Paul Morley| date=21 May 2006| title=A Northern Soul| work=Observer Music Monthly| url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2006/may/21/popandrock3| access-date=20 September 2006| location=London| archive-date=2 October 2006| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061002025231/http://observer.guardian.co.uk/omm/story/0,,1777016,00.html| url-status=live}}
* {{cite magazine| last=Nelson| first=Paul| date=23 February 1978| title=''Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols'' (album review)| magazine=Rolling Stone| url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/thesexpistols/albums/album/213300/review/18945911/never_mind_the_bollocks_heres_the_sex_pistols| access-date=20 March 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080622111413/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/thesexpistols/albums/album/213300/review/18945911/never_mind_the_bollocks_heres_the_sex_pistols| archive-date=22 June 2008| url-status=dead}}
* {{cite news|last=O'Hagan|first=Sean|author-link=Sean O'Hagan|date=2 May 2004|title=Fifty Years of Pop|work=The Observer|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2004/may/02/popandrock|access-date=20 March 2009|location=London|archive-date=31 March 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090331134741/http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2004/may/02/popandrock|url-status=live}}
* {{cite web| last=Ott| first=Chris| year=2004| title=051: Sex Pistols ''Never Mind the Bollocks'' (Top 100 Albums of the 1970s)| website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]| url=http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/5932-top-100-albums-of-the-1970s/5/| access-date=20 March 2009| archive-date=17 March 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090317221544/http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/5932-top-100-albums-of-the-1970s/5/| url-status=dead}}
* {{cite news | last=Petridis | first=Alexis | date=12 April 2002 | title=Leaders of the Banned | work=Guardian | url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2002/apr/12/artsfeatures.popandrock | access-date=22 September 2006 | location=London | archive-date=2 November 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071102115846/http://arts.guardian.co.uk/fridayreview/story/0,,735307,00.html | url-status=live }}
* {{Cite news |last=Pingitore |first=Silvia |date=8 March 2023 |work=The Shortlisted Magazine |title=Interview with The Sex Pistols' bass player Glen Matlock |url=https://the-shortlisted.co.uk/glen-matlock-sex-pistols-interview/ |access-date=24 June 2023 |archive-date=24 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220524083831/https://the-shortlisted.co.uk/glen-matlock-sex-pistols-interview/ |url-status=live }}
* {{cite web|last1=Reid|first1=Jamie|author-link=Jamie Reid|title=The Art of Punk|date=June 2004|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/6285080/Computer-Arts-06-2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206062157/http://www.scribd.com/doc/6285080/Computer-Arts-06-2004|archive-date=6 December 2008}}
* {{cite news | last=Robb | first=John | author-link=John Robb (musician) | date=5 November 2005 | title=The Birth of Punk | work=The Independent | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/the-birth-of-punk-324977.html | access-date=15 October 2006 | location=London | archive-date=11 November 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141111013113/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/the-birth-of-punk-324977.html | url-status=live }}
* {{cite magazine| last=Robinson| first=Charlotte| year=2006| title=So Tough: The Boy Behind the Sid Vicious Myth| magazine=[[PopMatters]]| url=http://www.popmatters.com/music/features/060809-sidvicious.shtml| access-date=16 July 2023| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060901080919/http://www.popmatters.com/music/features/060809-sidvicious.shtml| archive-date=1 September 2006| url-status=dead}}
* {{cite web| last=Roekens| first=K.| date=2000–2006| title=PiL Chronology| publisher=Fodderstompf| url=http://www.fodderstompf.com/CHRONOLOGY/1978.html| access-date=11 October 2006| archive-date=21 July 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200721112119/http://www.fodderstompf.com/CHRONOLOGY/1978.html| url-status=live}}
* {{cite magazine| title=''Rolling Stone'' Best of Lists| year=1987| last=Rolling Stone| magazine=Rolling Stone| publisher=rocklist.net| url=http://www.rocklist.net/rstone.html| access-date=6 February 2009| archive-date=29 December 2006| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061229133900/http://www.rocklist.net/rstone.html| url-status=live}}
* {{cite web| last=Ruhlmann| first=W.| year=2005| title=Public Image Ltd.| website=Allmusic| url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/p111839| access-date=12 October 2006| archive-date=16 March 2024| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240316083536/https://mb.moatads.com/yi/v2?ol=0&qn=%604%7BZEYwoqI%24%5BK%2BdLLU)%2CMm~ts!90vv9L%24%2FoDb%2Fz(lKm3GFlNUU%2Cu%5Bh_GcS%25%5BHvLU%5B4(K%2B%7BgeG(%24y_%2CapE%3FSF(f%25%3BS%243O3P(ry5*ZRocMp1tq%5BN%7Bq%60RP%3CG.ceFW%7CoG%22mxT%3Bwv%40V374BKm55%3D%26npLvbR6thw0P%26oUK%3B(iy3imPgh%5B**p%23VQz9.aS%3B4oD%7D%60%3Fjc!L2LmqMs%3Cex1bxNTK7%2BuCTpY%3CZ.T%5B%2B%22gbzbSSr1r4V%40bLwA&tf=1_nMzjG---CSa7H-1SJH-bW7qhB-LRwqH-nMzjG-&vi=111111&rc=0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C1%2C0%2C0%2Cprobably%2Cprobably&rb=1-0luww2hfMBbplB2oYnlkg5hWvakmHjVSHnC%2FvEJM65hND7VV6fApcFS3&rs=1-ENQRKbKpzNBk3A%3D%3D&sc=1&os=1-lw%3D%3D&qp=00000&is=BBBBB2BBEYBvGl2BBCBBtUTE1RmsqbKW8BsrBu0rCFE48CRBeeBS2hWTMBBQeQBBn2soYggyUig0CBlWZ0uBBCCCCCCOgRBBiOfnE6Bkg7OxCb8MxOtJYHCBdm5kBhBBC9Y8oBXckXBR76iUUsJBCBBBBBBBBBWBBBj3BBBZeGV2BBBCMciUBBBjgEBBBBBB94UMgTdJMtEcpMBBBQBBBniOccBBBBBB47kNBBBBBBBBBBBBBhcjG6BBJM2L4Bk8BwCBQmIoRBBCzBz1BBCTClBBrbGBC4ehueB57NG9aJeRzBqEKiuwBBBB&iv=8&qt=0&gz=0&hh=0&hn=0&tw=&qc=0&qd=0&qf=1400&qe=900&qh=1400&qg=900&qm=0&qa=1400&qb=900&qi=1400&qj=900&to=000&po=1-0020002000002120&vy=ot%24b%5Bh%40%22oDgO%3DLlE6%3AYnIBMwqCf%5D)4%5Dz%2C%5B%26u9L%2F%2F%24b4%5DIAIbzbld%7Dt00%7Ca_BB%3FVxyEO%22zf4%5D%24cr16Zh5YigBghs%7ClTr1W*d%5B4kf%2FLyUoRdByZ%3C99Ks(I%7DY(T0c%7BDQ3MY.NjDby7p%26C&qr=0&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.allmusic.com%2Fartist%2Fpublic-image-ltd-mn0000364399&pcode=playwireprebidheader597261727146&rx=9832351443&callback=MoatNadoAllJsonpRequest_12516009| url-status=live}}
* {{cite news| last1=Savage| first1=Jon| author-link1=Jon Savage| title=Sex Pistol Vicious on Murder Charge| publisher=BBC| work=[[On This Day]]| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/12/newsid_2543000/2543439.stm| access-date=15 October 2006| date=12 October 1978| ref={{harvid|Sex Pistol Vicious on Murder Charge|1978}}| archive-date=8 November 2006| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061108001746/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/12/newsid_2543000/2543439.stm| url-status=live}}
* {{cite news |last1=Savage |first1=Jon |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/jan/18/sid-vicious-death-icon |title=Sid Vicious: Little boy lost |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=18 January 2009 |access-date=26 October 2023 |archive-date=20 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230320171104/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/jan/18/sid-vicious-death-icon |url-status=live }}
* {{cite web|last=Severin|first=Steve|author-link=Steve Severin|year=1977|title=The Bromley Contingent|website=punk77.co.uk|url=http://www.punk77.co.uk/groups/bromley.htm|access-date=9 October 2006|archive-date=28 September 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060928210920/http://www.punk77.co.uk/groups/bromley.htm|url-status=live}}
* {{cite news | title=Sex Pistol to Rock Hall: 'Kiss This!' | publisher=[[CNN]]/[[Reuters]] | date=13 March 2006 | url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Music/03/13/leisure.rotten.reut/ | access-date=6 September 2006 | ref={{harvid|Sex Pistol to Rock Hall|2006}} | archive-date=12 April 2006 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060412081807/http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Music/03/13/leisure.rotten.reut/ | url-status=live }}
* {{Cite magazine |title=Sex Pistols |date=2023 |url=https://trouserpress.com/reviews/sex-pistols/ |access-date=23 April 2023 |magazine=[[Trouser Press]] |ref={{harvid|Sex Pistols|2023}} |archive-date=23 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230423175320/https://trouserpress.com/reviews/sex-pistols/ |url-status=live }}
* {{cite magazine| title=The Sex Pistols| magazine=RollingStone.com| year=2001| url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/TheSexPistols/;kw=%5Bnews,artists,9620,40534,40572%5D| access-date=24 May 2010| archive-url=https://archive.today/20130201183919/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/TheSexPistols/;kw=%5Bnews,artists,9620,40534,40572%5D| archive-date=1 February 2013| url-status=dead| ref={{harvid|The Sex Pistols|2001}}}}
* {{cite web |title=Sex Pistols Appear on 'So It Goes' |publisher=BBC |date=1977 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/sevenages/events/punk/sex-pistols-appear-on-so-it-goes/ |access-date=14 March 2009 |ref={{harvid|Sex Pistols Appear|1977}} |archive-date=9 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090109230122/http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/sevenages/events/punk/sex-pistols-appear-on-so-it-goes/ |url-status=live }}
* {{cite web|title=Sex Pistols Biography|url=http://rockhall.com/inductees/sex-pistols/bio|access-date=10 July 2023|date=2023|publisher=Rock and Roll Hall of Fame|archive-date=15 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111215105306/http://rockhall.com/inductees/sex-pistols/bio/|url-status=dead|ref={{harvid|Sex Pistols Biography|2023}}}}
* {{cite news |title=Sex Pistols Cover Tops Chart |publisher=BBC |date=14 March 2001 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1219770.stm |access-date=20 March 2009 |ref={{harvid|Sex Pistols Cover Tops Chart|2001}} |archive-date=4 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204135747/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1219770.stm |url-status=live }}
* {{cite web | title=Sex Pistols Gig: The Truth | publisher=BBC | date=27 June 2006 | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/content/articles/2006/05/11/110506_sex_pistols_gig_feature.shtml | access-date=6 February 2009 | ref={{harvid|Sex Pistols Gig|2006}} | archive-date=24 December 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191224054741/http://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/content/articles/2006/05/11/110506_sex_pistols_gig_feature.shtml | url-status=live }}
* {{cite web| last=Sex Pistols Official| date=2023| title=Features: There'll Always Be an England| publisher=SexPistolsOfficial.com| url=http://www.sexpistolsofficial.com/index.php?module=features| access-date=27 July 2010| archive-date=6 January 2011| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110106003828/http://sexpistolsofficial.com/index.php?module=features| url-status=live}}
* {{cite news| title=Sex Pistols Reform for One-Off Gig| date=19 September 2007| work=Sydney Morning Herald| url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/music/never-mind-the-bollocks/2007/09/19/1189881554282.html| access-date=20 March 2009| ref={{harvid|Sex Pistols Reform|2007}}| archive-date=4 January 2010| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100104103809/http://www.smh.com.au/news/music/never-mind-the-bollocks/2007/09/19/1189881554282.html| url-status=live}}
* {{cite news | title=Sex Pistols Reunion Is Expanded | publisher=BBC | date=26 September 2007 | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7013761.stm | access-date=19 March 2009 | ref={{harvid|Sex Pistols Reunion Is Expanded|2007}} | archive-date=14 October 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071014063334/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7013761.stm | url-status=live }}
* {{cite news | title=Sex Pistols Reunion To Make Live Comeback | publisher=BBC | date=18 September 2007 | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7000180.stm | access-date=20 March 2009 | ref={{harvid|Sex Pistols Reunion To Make Live Comeback|2007}} | archive-date=20 January 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090120030121/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7000180.stm | url-status=live }}
* {{cite web |title=The Sex Pistols Sign New Record Deal with Universal |publisher=BBC |date=27 February 2012 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17170897 |access-date=27 February 2012 |ref={{harvid|The Sex Pistols Sign New Record Deal|2012}} |archive-date=27 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120227161956/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17170897 |url-status=live }}
* {{cite magazine| title=Sex Pistols 'Swindle' Again| magazine=Billboard| date=2005| url=http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000929906| access-date=9 September 2006| archive-date=29 September 2007| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929161408/http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000929906| url-status=dead| ref={{harvid|Sex Pistols Swindle|2005}}}}
* {{cite web|last=Singleton|first=Phil|date=2023|title=Boys Will Be Boys|publisher=cookandjones.co.uk|url=http://www.cookandjones.co.uk/professionals_postscript.htm|access-date=10 October 2006|archive-date=18 January 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070118035524/http://www.cookandjones.co.uk/professionals_postscript.htm|url-status=live}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk/MagSitePages/Article.aspx?id=2919 |title=Jesus and Mary Chain : Interview with Jim Reid Part 1 |last=Sladeckova |first=Olga |work=pennyblackmusic.co.uk |date=10 August 2002 |access-date=11 July 2012 |archive-date=15 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120215035644/http://www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk/MagSitePages/Article.aspx?id=2919 |url-status=dead }}
* {{cite magazine |last1=Savage |first1=John |title=On Tour with the Sex Pistols |magazine= [[Spin (magazine)|SPIN]] |date= April 1996 }}
* {{cite magazine|last=Sprague|first=David|date=2006|title=Sex Pistols Flip Off Hall of Fame|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/9385165/sex_pistols_flip_off_hall_of_fame|access-date=21 February 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080217032318/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/9385165/sex_pistols_flip_off_hall_of_fame|archive-date=17 February 2008|url-status=dead}}
* {{cite magazine|last1=Sullivan|first1=James|title=Johnny Rotten's 'Uncensored' Memoir: 10 Things We Learned|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/10-things-we-learned-from-johnny-rottens-uncensored-new-memoir-20150424|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=24 April 2015|access-date=20 September 2017|archive-date=21 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170921001441/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/10-things-we-learned-from-johnny-rottens-uncensored-new-memoir-20150424|url-status=dead}}
* {{cite journal |last =Thompson |first =Stacy |title=Punk Cinema |journal=Cinema Journal |date=2004 |volume=43 |issue=2|pages=47–66 |doi=10.1353/cj.2004.0013 |s2cid=258100578 }}
* {{cite web| last=Verrico| first=Lisa| date=13 March 1999| title=The Big Interview: Limited Edition| work=The Times| url=http://www.johnlydon.com/TIMES_UK99.HTM| publisher=JohnLydon.com| access-date=4 October 2006| archive-date=7 November 2006| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061107011651/http://www.johnlydon.com/TIMES_UK99.HTM| url-status=live}}
* {{cite magazine| last= Young| first= Charles M.| date= 20 October 1977| title= Rock Is Sick and Living in London| magazine= Rolling Stone| url= https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/a-report-on-the-sex-pistols-19771020| access-date= 10 October 2006| archive-date= 5 September 2017| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170905124746/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/a-report-on-the-sex-pistols-19771020| url-status= dead}}
* {{cite web| last=Wales Music| date=22 July 2010| title=The Sex Pistols in Caerphilly| publisher=BBC| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/music/sites/history/pages/sex-pistols-caerphilly.shtml| access-date=22 July 2010| archive-date=14 December 2011| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111214120038/http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/music/sites/history/pages/sex-pistols-caerphilly.shtml| url-status=live}}
* {{cite news| last=Worley| first=Matthew| date=25 October 2017| title=No Future: 40 Years Since Sex Pistols Stuck Two Fingers Up at the British Establishment| newspaper=Independent| url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/no-future-40-years-since-sex-pistols-stuck-two-fingers-up-at-the-british-establishmen-a8018671.html| access-date=13 January 2018| archive-date=14 January 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180114020236/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/no-future-40-years-since-sex-pistols-stuck-two-fingers-up-at-the-british-establishmen-a8018671.html| url-status=live}}
* {{cite news| last=Wyman| first=Bill| date=April 2000| title=The Revenge of the Sex Pistols| work=[[Salon.com]]| url=http://archive.salon.com/ent/movies/review/2000/04/28/pistols/index.html| access-date=17 March 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091015073721/http://archive.salon.com/ent/movies/review/2000/04/28/pistols/index.html| archive-date=15 October 2009| url-status=dead| df=dmy-all}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Sex Pistols}}
* {{Official website|http://www.sexpistolsofficial.com/}}
* {{allMusic}}

{{Sex Pistols|state=uncollapsed}}
{{2006 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sex Pistols, The}}
[[Category:Sex Pistols| ]]
[[Category:1975 establishments in England]]
[[Category:A&M Records artists]]
[[Category:Controversies in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:English musical quartets]]
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[[Category:Musical groups established in 1975]]
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[[Category:Obscenity controversies in music]]
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