The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band that formed in London in the mid 1970s. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they are regarded as one of the most groundbreaking acts ever.
They were responsible for initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians. Their fashion and hairstyles have been credited as a significant influence on punk image, and they are often associated with anarchism within music.
The Sex Pistols originally comprised vocalist John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten), guitarist Steve Jones, drummer Paul Cook and bassist Glen Matlock. Matlock was replaced by Sid Vicious in early 1977. Under the management of Malcolm McLaren, the band attracted controversies that both captivated and upset a Britain still led by a ruling class that were clinging to Edwardian and Victorian values.
Through an obscenity-laced television interview in December 1976 and their May 1977 single "God Save the Queen", attacking Britons' social conformity and deference to the Crown, they precipitated the punk rock movement. It was banned not only by the BBC but also by nearly every independent radio station, making it the "most heavily censored record in British history".
The band's only album 'Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols', released in 1977 went to Number One.
Other Pistols classics have got to be 'Pretty Vacant' with it' excellent opening riff
THis was followed by 'Holidays in the Sun', arguably the three strongest ever first singles from any band.
'Steppin Stone'
In January 1978, at the end of their over-hyped and turbulent tour of the United States, Rotten announced the band's break-up. Over the next few months, the three remaining band members recorded songs for McLaren's film version 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 briefly reunited for a concert tour in the mid 1990s...