John Lydon on the Sex Pistols, Jimmy Savile & his childhood | Channel 4 News 

John Lydon, aka Johnny Rotten. No other way to end it really. Powerful.

People just can't ever do so that's the sad ongoing truth.

Wish people would see this.

Words are so cheap.

@@mistervertigo678 I think you will find that words can be very expensive it really depends on the words that you use along with what you say and who ya say it to. It can all add up you know.

Hi, his autobiography is well worth reading. He mentioned Savile in an interview back in 1978 but in those days the media regarded him as something like the antichrist.

Back again. Have a look for footage of the Sex Pistols holding a Christmas party for the children of striking firefighters.

Rotten was telling the truth. It's only logical for the media to portray him as the antichrist

Exactly, the corruptors of youth, handing out stuff to people with nothing,made that way by theEstablishment that condemned them,as Johnny said "It's a farce"

southlondon86 what a guy!

Allan Ostermann Yeah, selling butter is so revolutionary!

Damian Bethell Gotta make money some how.

anarchy butter

+Allan Ostermann stop spreading the butter story please

+Allan Ostermann & everyone else - For a long time I thought "sell out fake" over the whole butter business. I had read somewhere that he had invested in real estate & was incredibly rich. Only later did I find out that he was unable to record as PIL due to being still screwed by, and in debt to, the record companies. Seen him interviewed on Buttergate countless times & this is one man whose eyes always tell the truth. He did what he had to do to re-form PIL as a fully functioning recording & touring band. The tours finance the new albums & so on... they are now fully independent. So easy to scream sell - out when you don't know the full facts. I will never lose my admiration for a very normal, mixed-up working class kid thrust into such an intense spotlight at such a young age. I owe him a debt of gratitude for NMTB (& Matlock, Cook, Jones - Vicious for being Sid) as that album changed music & inspired a shy kid like me to grow a pair. When I see John Lydon interviewed now, it is so obvious that he has never really compromised & has always stayed true to himself. I'm not aware of anyone ever successfully calling him out on this. He's still a working class, Irish Cockney without a single hint of snobbery. Only IMHO for what it's worth, but I just see a nice guy, a solid & loyal friend as has always been testified by his mates. The guy is fiercely intelligent w/o being an intellectual snob. The telling thing for me is I truly believe JL could lose everything he owns, move into rented accommodation next door to any of us & be a great neighbour. +Allan Ostermann though he disowns the revolutionary tag, "He's never stopped speaking the truth, regardless of the consequences. A brilliant, brave revolutionary" is so spot on. Would make a great Twitter post ! I think people forget what a set of balls he had & still has. A scrawny malnourished kid - just walking around London was dangerous & he got attacked many times. To then take that look, attitude & total conviction to 'Randy's Rodeo' or whatever, in deep South Bible Belt in the 70s... that's bravery..,. I wouldn't have the bollocks to do that for any money & they weren't even earning... Thanks to John Lydon, Joe Strummer & many others, mine & countless other people's were altered for the better at a young age. For that I will be eternally grateful & couldn't give a toss about the butter ! :-)

He's the traitor who played Israel while the Palestinian children were being massacred in their beds. He's a dog and don't let him kid you otherwise.

I know that he loves and misses Sid dearly and wishes he was here and he would have been able to make up with him.

Yeah, "real insight"...that's why he supports another orange-haired idiot named Donald Trump. Like attracts like.

According to interviews with John Lydon he does not support Donald Duck...sorry...Trump. He says that whatever he said about DT has been taken out of context

Elvar Masson What interviews are those, Elvar? Let's see your evidence because the only times I have seen him talk about Trump is how much he likes him.

news.artnet.com/exhibitions/johnny-rotten-museum-art-design-1526224

He really looks great

why did he not speak out about saville at the time if it was common knowledge.just another coward with a big mouth

wotnotwas He did speak up at the time. there is a bbc interview on youtube from the seventies that was never aired as it was ALL covered up

ok I didn't know that.i knew nothing of saville.only that I never liked him

We can now call him Johnny Ripe.

No doubt. He's one of my few heroes.

Jealous doesn't cover it, what was he like to chat to?

Was he as entertaining in person as he is on screen?

I can see that already at 25 and sometimes I wanna cry in despair.

The most sensitive of us don't usually make it to old age.

GriefTourist you realize this at a much younger age.... ofc you're angry as hell especially when everyone around you defends what's going on and even refuses to listen to the good music because nothing was really achieved and not a whole lot has changed and you can go into a depression that evolves into extreme sarcasm and cynicism. they only started listening to what the people have to say about how things work. it doesn't make you a bad person , it simply means you're hoping and wishing things would start changing already since you're part of the change and swim against the tide.

No, they've been to Eton.

@@resurgem at Eaton they have 4 square meals a day, instead of 3 😆

Don’t mean they are clever just look at some of them

Johnny, you HIT the nail right on the head with your answer...good on ya!

Yes, Snow conducted himself very well here. He was quiet when he needed to be. He just listened.

@@britishpatriots6479 yes i just watched it for the first time and you can see johns pain and the understanding of john snow,very moving

trying to find that story in the news. I came across this article. His reply is spot on! www.upworthy.com/people-are-slamming-famous-punk-rocker-for-complaining-about-the-homeless-but-he-s-got-a-good-reason

The moral of your story here is about not judging people by their appearance.

RESPECT TO MR LYDON! HUMANITY, HUMILITY AND TRUTH! Yes he swears! Honest people swear! Outing the savile's of the world will only make it a better place! An eloquent, intelligent individual! Who speaks his mind and does so plainly! Always the underdog! A time will come when the governments of all nations will fall apart because they can't give there citizens what they require? WHAT WE NEED TO LIVE! AND THE TRUTH???

@@DeviateDefi4nt or by what other people tell you to think.

@@andyt6191 Here Here dear boy !!

+James Cox And Ironically.... there's nothing rotten about Johnny.

+James Cox I've never seen that side of him before!

That part had me in tears!

Who knew eh? A sensitive soul underneath the tough punk mad nutter exterior, I really like this dude.

DesertRose122 please pick up his first book he wrote. A while back I found out what a wonderful writer he is. A word smith. Should teach as a professor

If you never saw him on "I'm a Celebrity" you'll never understand what a lovely, genuine, and funny bloke John really is. I used to hate the guy but after seeing him on that show my opinion changed 180-degrees.

Oh Joe. You charlatan. May God forgive you.

@Andy Bigsy No he wasn't., and no he didn't.....why do you want to create your own fantasy?

He was 'black-listed from BBC airwaves'; not by announcing it on the news or putting an ad in Sounds, but quietly preventing him having a platform on what was 1 of only 2 UK TV stations & also dominated Radio broadcasting of music. Stealth cover-up.

Always liked Lydon; genuine & thoughtful, & someone who makes total sense amidst a planet of aliens with forked tongue babble. How could anyone 'hate' him?! - Let alone not like his music..

John Stots Sounds dee-lish, I'll bring desert. Is honey soaked donkey scrote and cream ok?

Couldnt have said it better myself skullduggery

John*

Where's your humanity are you a snake

Totally Agree.

Maybe if he moderated his image slightly then his warnings about Saville could of been accepted by the public......

@@Kw-sv2mo Against the bbc? Your having a laugh!

Tok no action and let lots of kids get abused. He was a coward.

@@DAN420. what could Johnny Rotten have done in the late 1970's ?? - he was young, naive and a public enemy # 1 in Britain. The fact that he mentioned it AT THE TIME already makes him heroic. Johnny was an entertainer - not a superhero. They COPS should have done their jobs.

Respect john👏

@@johnnyrotten5507 amen!

@@DAN420. get to skipping Skippy!

Because the high ups are also pedophiles.

People hated Johnny Rotten, and loved, idolized, in fact, SaVILE, how fucked up is that?

Ahh yes but little jimmy is on the ground being eaten by maggots and worms 🐛 and Jon is finally getting the recognition he deserves - that is some justice at least :)

John did not crawl up the royals arses, instead he got up their noses. God save the king john!!!!

@@desertrose1226 No they did not you fucking moron, hence the reason they only had one album and it sold millions and millions.

+singIeservingfriend On my list of "blokes I'd like to sit down and have a pint with," John Lydon is near the top -- and I'm not even a punk fan!

Sad bastards.

+Rob Webster Nicely put, he did the butter adverts to fund a PIL tour and, he's opted out of royalties for Sex Pistols album sales

+Rob Webster It,s called Maturity Rob...............Johnny has grown by leaps and bounds., and yes the Butter adverts so what.....he has to live and pay bills................big deal.

I agree, and besides, what's wrong with him doing a Butter advert? What's wrong with seeing him advertise something positive and upbeat?

+soeffingwhat he did a BBC 2 programme last week and was brilliant. he forgave McLaren and was enthusiastic about the new pil album. great attitude

well, in all fairness who sells out? who actually owns those copyrights? we can all sit around and point fingers and forget the fact that, most often, these bands and musicians no longer have total control of their music once they signed on that dotted line. just look at the clash's music - Joe would have never been ok with their music in adverts and i highly doubt that mick and the others would have gone against his wishes - but still, it was placed in commercials.

Paul Scott no

Paul Scott Waaaaaaaaay better than Dark Side of the flipping Moon. I was amazed those corporate land-owners ('Pink Floyd') recovered from Punk. That they did just shows the masses dependence on bland mediocrity.

+blackmore4 You have obviously never heard Animals by Pink Floyd, and it's biting social commentary. Every bit as punk as the pistols. Punk is not just a sound or style. it's also an attitude.

Hoggie Oh I heard it... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz All the kids at my school were constantly playing it during that first half of 1977. Whenever I managed to slip on either the Damned or Pistols first 2 singles or the Buzzcocks 'Spiral Scratch' EP, they'd look at me as if I was some evil terrorist ;) I'd never proclaim any of the Punk crop as lyrical geniuses by any means but in comparison to the piddling sub-Fifth form mediocrity of the 'Animals' lyrics, their superiority in vitality and, categorically, honesty and "attitude" was monumental. And while PF's stoned music didn't offend me anywhere near as much as all those other wretched 70s 'prog' groups, I still found it incredibly dull in comparison to the likes of 70s Bowie, Iggy, Roxy, Sparks etc. "Biting" lyrics? Seriously? Have you ever heard or read a lyric by Tom Waits or Jacques Brel or Cole Porter or Lou Reed or Johnny Mercer or Randy Newman or Serge Gainsbourg or Leonard Cohen or... Of course this is just opinion but in mine, that lot makes Waters' scribbles look pre-nursery. But yours is the majority opinion and by that reckoning, you're right and I'm wrong! I couldn't care less. And neither should you.

Yep heard loads by Tom Waits, Lou Reed, Randy Newman etc. But this is about Pink Floyd and punk not about Pink Floyd and everybody else. If you think Waters lyrics are pre nursery, that's your prerogative, you obviously don't rate him or Floyd or even prog and in a free world that's cool. I always thought Bryan Ferrys warblings were indecipherable, Bowies lyrics pretentious, Sparks lyrics simply laughable, and Iggy just a novelty - and in a free world that's cool too.

I thougt the same❣

I have lived a long...oh so long and sorted life full of things no one could or would understand. The one thing I learned and pay attention folks...is that people that don't cry are not just scary but formidably Evil! Beware...truly. If they don't have true emotions or the ability to cry...F'n run!!

His teeth were.

The nickname came from a comment about his teeth.

Can you tell me what kind of car he drives and if he is into cars, all the best.

It;s a cadillac Mostly driven by his wife Nora. I work in there local car parts shop and they always come to us for advice. Hope i can grab a cuppa with him when changing battery.. Good luck.

shadenator He does not drive cars, he does not like it. he gets driven around

@Danny S The vehicle is Noras,but yes john does not really drive he gets driven about.Afterall he is a celeb :-) Battery due tomorrow Nora is going to ask john to sign todays spread in the sun for me.

shadenator You lucky lucky bastard! What I wouldn't give.... Please say "hi" from a londoner and tell him how much he's still loved and admired!

I feel sorry for you, you missed a fantastic period of time. Rockstars,music,fashion,artists were changing and challenging. EVERTHING today seems mainstream and boring,I don't see anyone trying to be alternative or different.The 60s weren't bad either,It's the ONLY good thing about getting old 😎

I'm only 53 but I know exactly what you mean Robert. I think it's only when you get older that you get to see what the song writer was really trying to say. We shouldn't beat ourselves up over it it because we were victims of the media as it was then.

I grew up with the Pistols and WASN'T a punk rocker at all - loved Zeppelin, Alice Cooper, the Beatles, The Tubes, Cheap Trick, etc. BUT, I loved the Pistols as soon as I heard "Holiday in the Sun". They were great...and important. The fact that they didn't last long only makes their myth greater. They are the James Dean of rock and roll bands..lol.

James Dean of rock n' roll is James Dean Bradfield, Manic Street Preachers.

I'm happy to say I did get it. We as kids were being fed a diet of sterilised pop music, disco crap and 'supergroups'. Along came the pistols and it felt like a cultural enema to people like me - disenfranchised council-estate kids with no future - and 76/77 changed our lives, although whether for the better or not I don't know. Suddenly, it didn't matter if you were beautiful or talented any more. What mattered was your integrity and your ability to communicate with your audience. Punk blew a hole in the music industry and let in a flood of music that will still be played in fifty years time. If you have any taste in real music, it's likely that you have this guy to thank for what you're listening to.

well said my son