Sex Pistols Flip Off Rock Hall
Never mind the Rock Hall, there go the Sex Pistols.
Britain’s most infamous punk rabble rousers are giving the big middle finger to the music industry types who’ve tapped the band for enshrinement in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, issuing a grammatically impaired open letter saying they have no intention of attending the induction ceremony scheduled for Mar. 13 at New York’s Waldorf Astoria Hotel.
“Next to the sex Pistols, rock and roll and that hall of fame is a piss stain. Your museum. Urine in wine. We’re not coming,” the band says via a handwritten note posted on frontman Johnny Rotten’s Website, thefiilthandthefury.co.uk. “Were [sic] not your monkey and so what? Fame at $25,000 if we paid for a table, or $15,000 to squeak up in the gallery, goes to a non-profit organization [sic] selling us a load of old famous.”
The Sex Pistols, who had been passed over by voters for several years before making the list, had been expected to inject a little anarchy into the proceedings as one of five acts being inducted. Black Sabbath, Blondie, Lynyrd Skynyrd and the late Miles Davis will also be feted.
But, in a nod to the rebel spirit that inspired generations of mohawk-wearing youth, and helped them sell millions of records, the Sex Pistols made it perfectly clear where their loyalties lie–with themselves.
“Congratulations,” the missive continues. “If you voted for us, hope you noted your reasons. Your [sic] anonymous as judges, but your [sic] still music industry people. Were [sic] not coming. Your [sic] not paying attention. Outside the sh-t-stem is a real Sex Pistol.”
With the Sex Pistols apparently sitting out the ceremony, there could still be some fireworks courtesy of Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne. In 2000, tired of repeated rejections by voters who opted for tamer acts like Percy Sledge and Bob Seger, Osbourne and his “War Pigs” comrades slammed the Rock Hall selection process, calling it “meaningless” because it’s not voted on by fans. However, the bat-chomping metalhead is expected to turn up at next month’s induction.
Despite releasing only one album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here Comes the Sex Pistols, the Sex Pistols–whose lineup included Johnny Rotten, Paul Cook, Steve Jones, Glen Matlock and the late Sid Vicious–gave 1970s rock ‘n’ roll a major kick in the ass with blistering, two-minute odes to self-destruction, rebellion and generally bad behavior, including the indelible punk anthems “Anarchy in the U.K.” and “God Save the Queen.”
The band split in 1978, but surviving members regrouped in 1996 and 2003 for two extremely lucrative tours, which caused some longtime fans to grouse that the band sold out.
In a 2003 interview with Billboard.com, Rotten dissed the band’s induction into the “Hall of Shame” and explained why the Sex Pistols have never issued new material since their heyday.
“We only needed to make one album to absolutely define how the world is,” the snarling singer said. “Quite frankly, I think it’s a miracle that we’re still alive, and that’s historical in itself. We fought this industry tooth and nail nonstop for 25 solid years, and we’re still here.”
They just won’t be in New York for the ceremony.
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