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Irish Examiner
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
'Never say never': Glen Matlock on the Sex Pistols reunion, and the John Lydon spat
Sex Pistols bassist and songwriter Glen Matlock is talking about the contradictions he has lived with daily working in the music industry since he was a teenager in the seminal punk band. "For all its socialist principles and high ideals if someone doesn't buy a ticket for your gig; you're nowhere. The world doesn't owe you a living and you have to make your own luck," he explains. The 68-year-old Londoner isn't long back from touring Japan, Australia and New Zealand as part of the Sex Pistols featuring Frank Carter on vocals. The lineup features three of the original Pistols that formed almost 50 years ago in August 1975. Joining Matlock on bass are guitarist Steve Jones and drummer Paul Cook. Carter's punk credentials were cemented with Gallows and Frank Carter & the Rattlesnakes. "I could be cynical and say we are helping everyone relive their youth but that's not true," explains Matlock. "With Frank being in the band it helps and the music we did is timeless really, we sound like we did years ago." Not surprisingly, original front-man John 'Rotten' Lydon has slammed the reunion. "I am the Pistols and they're not," is Lydon's take on it all. Equally unsurprisingly, Matlock is of a differing opinion. "It was Steve's band. We were all the songwriters and we all did our bit," he says of their string of hits including Anarchy In The UK, God Save The Queen and Pretty Vacant. "It would never have happened without any one of us. The problem is John won't give anyone else any credit which is why we are where we are now. He still can't think it through. But he can do what he likes. He comes across as bitter and twisted while we are all having a laugh, making some good money and sending everyone home with a smile on their face.' So does that mean there will never be another reunion with Johnny Rotten? "Never say never. It's sad the way it's unfolded. Life is short and the hourglass of time is dripping away for us. Who wants to sit at home thinking about what could have been?" Matlock originally left the Pistols to make way for Sid Vicious on bass. While the replacement bassist became a punk icon, especially after his premature death at the age of 21 in February 1979, the band soon imploded. Jones later expressed the opinion that if Matlock had remained in the Pistols they would have made more records. Despite the band's short lifespan, Never Mind The Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols (1977) remains one of the greatest long-players of all time. The ongoing public interest in the band was clear when the band played shows last August to raise money for Bush Hall in London, saving the venue from closure. Fan reaction and critical acclaim led to the Pistols continuing a live run with Carter on vocals. Matlock often sits outside with a coffee in West London, partly due to the fact he still enjoys a cigarette. "It's not big and it's not clever," he admits. Sometimes his life resembles an episode of celeb comedy show Stella Street. He regularly bumps into fellow residents such as Lulu and Rolling Stone Ron Wood, or is joined by the likes of Paul Weller and Noel Gallagher. "Yeah, I put Weller and Noel on the guest list for the [recent Pistols secret gig] at the 100 Club. I see him and Noel regularly as we live in the same area. I've known Paul since the early days, we all went to see them [The Jam] in Fulham and they came to our gigs.' Matlock has enjoyed a prolific career since originally leaving the Pistols in 1977. He first found success alongside Midge Ure in Rich Kids. Their only album, Ghosts of Princes in Towers, was produced by David Bowie's essential guitarist, co-producer and arranger Mick Ronson. Glen Matlock, left, with other members of the Sex Pistols in 1976: Johnny Rotten, Steve Jones, and Paul Cook. Picture: Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty. "Mick was always taking people under his wing. The music industry is so pushy with everyone trying to climb the greasy pole. Mick was never like that. I don't think he did too bad but he could have been more astute sometimes," says Matlock in reference to Ronson not being properly taken care of for his contribution to such records as Bowie's Life On Mars and Lou Reed's Walk on the Wild Side. The mention of Ronson does bring back a particularly fond memory of an evening out in London with the guitar legend. "We went to down the dogs at Walthamstow [Stadium for greyhound racing]. Mick was unwell and it was really to take his mind off things. We'd laid down our bets, took a seat and the race began, which doesn't take long. Mick then got up and went off; I said: 'Where are you going?' He said: 'That dog on the outside looks good'. He was trying to back it before the end of the race!" Matlock has also enjoyed stints with Iggy Pop, playing on Soldier (1980), and also with The Faces, and Blondie. In 2023-24 he toured Iggy Pop's classic Lust For Life (1977) album with the late Clem Burke. The news of the Blondie drummer's death from cancer in April was a shock. "We've been friends for 50 years," explains Matlock. "It's been weird because he would stay with me whenever he was in London and I would stay at his place in L. A when I was over there. Just wandering around the house [since his death] has been a little bit odd. Clem and I were cut from the same cloth. When Debbie Harry got covid, the dates were postponed and we ended up kicking about New Jersey where he was from and where his old man lived and worked. He had an American version of my upbringing really." Burke was that rare example of someone in the music industry that no one had a bad word to say about, while also being regarded as one of rock'n'roll's greatest drummers. "He was a fantastic showman and drummer. He would also instigate things and make them happen,' adds Matlock. Glen Matlock playing with Blondie. Picture:. 'When I went to America last year he put the band together for me and brought in people like Kathy Valentine [The Go-Gos] and Gilby Clarke [ex-Guns N' Roses].' While Debbie Harry and co have a new album ready to be released, the future is uncertain. "I knew Clem had been ill for a little while and Blondie had been put off, there's a new Blondie album in the can but I don't know what will happen and now the Pistols stuff has come up." Before the Sex Pistols play several dates in the UK and Europe in June, Matlock will be touring with his solo band. His album Consequences Coming and autobiography Triggers: A Life In Music, both released in 2023, were well received. He seems to be a man who rarely rests for long, but admits to being "knackered" after returning from the other side of the world with the Pistols. "This is a good little band. When something like the Pistols happens I have to put my solo work on hold. The Pistols songs are old and I'm always interested in having my new songs on the go," he explains. Is there a chance of new music from the Pistols? 'I don't know but nobody has said 'no',' he explains, adding that the band get along much better than before. 'On tour now we have breakfast together and get on the same flights and trains in Japan and that's quite a novelty since the days of yore. Steve Jones came around my house the other day to watch QPR. I'm a QPR fan. He likes to bet on everything. We got beat so he went home with £10 of mine in his pocket!"
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Sex Pistols, sans Johnny Rotten, will play 'Never Mind the Bollocks' in Minneapolis
Punk rock royalty is headed to Downtown Minneapolis. The Sex Pistols, or at least a version of the Sex Pistols, are coming to The Fillmore on Oct. 7, the band announced on Friday. It will be the band's first North American tour in 22 years. Though, this won't be a classic lineup reunion. The current formation features three founding members, guitarist Steve Jones, drummer Paul Cook, and bassist Glen Matlock, who was replaced by Sid Vicious in 1977. Unlike past reunions, singer Johnny Rotten, aka John Lydon, is not part of this tour. Instead, the Sex Pistols will be fronted by 40-year-old singer Frank Carter (Gallows, Pure Love), as they were during recent UK gigs. On this tour, they'll be playing Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols in its entirety, as well as other songs. Lydon has previously expressed his unequivocal disdain for this current incarnation of the band. "I've been shocked how awful it is," he recently told Louder Than War. "It just seems like they've rented a puppet and there it is. It is truly karaoke, I think, with really mediocre results." For Jones' part, he told that he and Lydon haven't spoken since 2008. "I wish him all the best. I really do," Jones said. "We had a great time when we were young, and it was life-changing for all of us. But after the court case with Pistol it wasn't even worth asking John [about the reunion tour]. I don't think he was interested.' Tickets for the show are on sale at 10 a.m. on Friday, April 4. A presale will be held on Wednesday, April 2, with the code "DANCE."
CBS News
28-03-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Sex Pistols announce first North American tour in 22 years
The Sex Pistols, the legendary English punk band that helped the underground subculture of the genre to reach mainstream heights, is going on its first North American tour in more than 20 years. The Pistols last went on a North American tour in 2003, when they were joined by original vocalist John Lyndon (formerly Rotten) . The 2025 iteration of the Pistols — original guitarist Steve Jones, drummer Paul Cook and bassist Glen Matlock joined by frontman Frank Carter (of Gallows, Pure Love and Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes) — will hit the road on Sept. 16 at a very memorable stage: The Longhorn Ballroom in Dallas, Texas. It was the site of a particularly hostile show for the band when it first toured the U.S. in 1978. Jones told The Associated Press he recalls having "pigs' hooves and bottles and whatnot slung at us by cowboys." It is one of a few dates featured in three "Live in the U.S.A." albums, documenting the band's '78 run: Atlanta, Dallas and San Francisco. The latter will be released on April 25 and captures the show where the band originally called it quits. "We were thinking of breaking up in San Francisco again," Jones joked. The 2025 tour is currently scheduled to conclude Oct. 16 at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles. The band will hit Washington; Philadelphia; Brooklyn, New York; Montreal; Toronto; Cleveland; Detroit; Minneapolis; Denver; Seattle and San Francisco. Additional tour dates will be announced later. Pre-sale opens April 2 and 3. Tickets go on sale April 4 at 10 a.m. local time. They will perform the band's sole album, 1977's "Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols Album" live in its entirety as well as other material. So, why tour the U.S. and Canada now? "Why not?" Jones said. "I think everybody needs this band right now. I think the world needs this band right now," Carter said. "And I think definitely America is screaming out for a band like the Sex Pistols." "At the end of the day, we're living in a really, really difficult time. So not only do people want to come and just be entertained, they want to enjoy themselves," he continued. "Punk is an energetic music. It's one where you can go and vent and let your hair down, hopefully in a safe manner. Fingers crossed, no bottles or pigs' hooves." Carter fronted the Sex Pistols last year for a few U.K. dates. The band said they did not reach out to Lydon to see if he wanted to participate in this reunion tour. "The last thing he wants to do is have anything to do with us right now," Jones said, referring to a previous lawsuit between the singer and the band over music use in their TV series "Pistol." The judge ruled against Lydon's opposition. "We wish him the best," Jones said. "Good luck to him," Matlock added. "I wish he thinks, maybe, 'good luck' to us. Probably doesn't. But over the years, John (has had) all our phone numbers, and I can't see many missed calls from him." As for the 2025 tour: Fans shouldn't expect the violence of their 1978 run, but they should anticipate a tighter performance. "We're a bit older but we play just as well, if not better," Matlock said. "And I think that's something that's got a great deal of aplomb that we're going to bring to the public over there." Does this mean there could be new Sex Pistols music in the future? "It's early days," Jones said. "Let's see what happens." The band is currently on a world tour taking them to Japan later this month before stops in New Zealand, Australia and across Europe.
