Sex Pistols Announce Reunion Benefit Shows Without Johnny Rotten

Sex Pistols will reunite for a pair of charity shows this August without their iconic frontman, Johnny Rotten.

Instead, they’ll be joined by English rocker Frank Carter (of Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes fame). Representing Sex Pistols’ OG line-up will be guitarist Steve Jones, drummer Paul Cook, and bassist Glen Matlock.

The shows will take place on Tuesday, 13, and Wednesday, 14 August, at Bush Hall in West London, with proceeds from the gigs to preserve the historic venue. On both nights, the band will perform the 1977 album, Never Mind The Bollocks in its entirety. Tickets go on sale at 9 am in the UK tomorrow (5 June) via Ticketmaster.

Sex Pistols haven’t performed since September 2008, but in 2018 and 2023, Jones and Cook performed with Generation X’s Billy Idol and Tony James under the name Generation Sex.

In a statement (via Consequence of Sound), Carter said that performing with the Sex Pistols has been “a joy from start to finish” and added, “When The Sex Pistols call, you answer. I’m very excited to be a part of it.”

Cook said the performance at Bush Hall is to support his local music venue. “We thought it would be a great way to stop it going under,” Cook said. “This is my local venue. I grew up in Shepherd’s Bush, and I still live around here.

“It would be a real shame to see it disappear, and we want to keep it going. So, everyone get down to the gig!”

Jones joked that if everything ends up going wrong, “it’s Paul’s fucking fault.”

At the time of writing, Rotten hasn’t responded to the band playing some shows with Carter.

Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes toured Australia in April in support of their latest album, Dark Rainbow.

On the band’s latest album, Carter said, “I'm just witnessing the world change so quickly around me, and I’m still trying to come to terms with who I am and what the authentic version of me is.

“By giving people what I thought they wanted, I think I got further and further away from who I actually am, you know? So now, first and foremost, I’m prioritising what I need. Sobriety has been really, really helpful for me.”

Last year, Johnny Rotten’s band Public Image Ltd (PiL) sought Eurovision glory with their song, Hawaii.

A day after revealing their Eurovision bid, Lydon trashed the Eurovision Song Contest.

In an interview on RTE’s Radio 1, Lydon stated, “It’s absolutely awful, the songs.”

“The whole thing of it is disgusting to me. I’m a songwriter, I perform live, and these shows just come across as so dreadfully phony to me.”

“But look, we’re giving it a chance to break out of that mould.”

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