Editing Sex Pistols (section)

=== 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 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}} 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]], an emotionally disturbed drug addict and sometime prostitute from New York.{{sfn|Robinson|2006}}{{sfn|McNeil|1996|p=262}}{{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|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 called the crowd "a bunch of faggots" before hitting an audience member on the head with his bass guitar.{{sfn|Huey|2005}} 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|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 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 later tracks. On 30 June, a single credited to the Sex Pistols 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 August the 25th, 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 | 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 | date=22 August 2024 }}</ref> On September the 20th, 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 }}</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 | date=26 September 2024 }}</ref> and on September the 26th, 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 | 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, set for April 2025.<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 |publisher=SCG Media |access-date=17 January 2025}}</ref>