It’s been almost 30 years, but legendary British punks The Sex Pistols are returning to Australian shores, albeit with one very notable omission
The God Save The Queen hitmakers are headed Down Under for five shows that will see them play their groundbreaking 1977 album Never Mind The B****cks, It’s The Sex Pistols in full.
However, the band will be without notorious frontman John Lydon, aka, Johnny Rotten, with singer Frank Carter taking on the snarling duties.
No stranger to the stage, Carter began his musical career as the frontman for British hardcore band Gallows, as well as Pure Love and Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes.
In a rare treat for fans, however, the band will be rounded out by original members Paul Cook, Steve Jones and Glen Matlock.
Matlock departed the Sex Pistols in 1977 to make way for infamous bass player Sid Vicious.
The Sex Pistols are returning to Australian shores without lead singer Johnny Rotten, instead using Frank Carter (centre left) as their frontman
Live Nation took to Instagram on Friday to announce the band will be kicking off their tour at Melbourne’s Festival Hall on April 5, before moving on to the Hindley Street Music Hall in Adelaide the following night.
From there, it’s off to Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion on April 8 and Fortitude Music Hall in Brisbane on April 9.
The tour will conclude in Western Australia with a show at Fremantle Prison on April 11.
News of the tour was met with a round of applause from Aussie fans, despite the band being without the instantly recognisable voice of Lydon.
‘This is huge @frankcarter23,’ one fan commented. ‘Amazed and proud! Congrats!’
Another chimed in with a similar: ‘Epic! Can’t wait for Sydney.’
There is certainly no love lost between the Sex Pistols and their former frontman, Lydon.
After the band, fronted by Carter, reunited for a string of UK shows in 2024, guitarist Steve Jones revealed he hadn’t spoken to Lydon in 16 years.
The band will be without notorious frontman John Lydon, aka, Johnny Rotten, (pictured far right) with Frank Carter taking on the snarling duties
No stranger to the stage, Carter, pictured left with Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones, began his musical career as the frontman for British hardcore band Gallows followed by Pure Love and Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes
Speaking on the Rockonteurs podcast, he said: ‘I haven’t spoke to him in years, 2008 was the last time I spoke to him, we did 30 shows around Europe.’
‘We did a bunch of festivals and all that… we ended up at Hammersmith Odeon (now Hammersmith Apollo), and then we had one more show in the Basque Country, and that was it.’
The musician admitted: ‘I was done after that, no more, it’s too much, too old, too much, not enough done.’
Lydon has had an ongoing feud with the group since their split in 1978, as he has tried to stop its music being used in TV shows.
In 2022, a Danny Boyle-directed six-part series documenting the rise and fall of punk pioneers was released on Disney+, reigniting the feud between John and his former bandmates.
John, who had no involvement in the show’s production, was highly critical about the project and condemned its perceived historical inaccuracies.
But Steve hit back at his remarks and urged him to ‘grow up and move on’ as he said he didn’t understand why John is so upset about the series.
He insisted the show is about him and not John as it is based on his memoir Lonely Boy: Tales From A Sex Pistol.
There is certainly no love lost between the Sex Pistols and their former frontman, Lydon
Lydon has had an ongoing feud with the group since their split in 1978, as he has tried to stop its music being used in TV shows
‘I ain’t got time for all that c**p any more,’ Steve told The Sun at the time.
‘You’ve just got to grow up and move on. The show is about me, it ain’t about John, even though he is obviously a big part of it.’
Steve and Paul were recently locked in a High Court battle with John, who wished to block the use of their songs in the TV series.
After he lost the legal fight, John went on to brand his former bandmates ‘greedy’, ‘nasty’ and ‘evil, later claiming the case financially ‘ruined’ him.
The Sex Pistols were formed in 1975 as one of the first British punk groups, but disbanded in 1978.
They went on to perform several live shows together, with the Filthy Lucre tour in 1996, and shows in 2002, 2003 and 2007 and the last being the Azkena Rock Festival in 2008.
