John Lydon says The Sex Pistols would never have been good enough for ‘The X Factor’.
The 60-year-old singer and his bandmates – Steve Jones, Paul Cook and Glen Matlock, who was replaced by Sid Vicious – kicked off the punk movement in the mid-1970s and changed the direction of British rock music.
Lydon – who was known as Johnny Rotten when he fronted the group – doesn’t think their DIY approach to music would fare well now in a music business dominated by Simon Cowell’s talent show and "safe" pop.
In an interview with The Sun newspaper, the ‘God Save The Queen’ singer said: "People underrated us. We were a lot better than they thought. There was a hell of a lot of negativity at the time about anything to do with us. And what is playing anyway? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, plus we weren’t fitting into consistent patterns of the day and therefore people said, ‘Can’t play’. Let’s face it, we were never good enough for ‘X Factor’. (The music business) is as useless, stupid and dumb as ever. As soon as the accountants come in, everything changes and then it’s just about the money and the art form becomes stagnant and sales drop. The labels are all oblivious to this until it’s too late and they find themselves facing financial ruin. They need to invest in new, interesting, exciting talent … take risks and good things will happen. If you follow the route of safety, believe me, you’re not going to be safe!"
Lydon is currently touring and recording with his band Public Image Ltd – also known as PiL – and their last album was 2015’s ‘What the World Needs Now…’ which earned critical acclaim.
The outspoken songwriter believes his writing is better than ever and he intends to keep causing controversy with his songs.
He said: "I’ve learned to write songs properly. I’ve analysed myself and therefore I’m capable of analysing others. Now I attack myself personally all the time! I want to improve not only my position in the world but everybody else’s. PiL is a fantastic opportunity to get it right."
John Lydon: Sex Pistols weren’t good enough for X Factor
