Sex Pistols on edge: Glen Matlock hits back at John Lydon's accusations: "We're not a tribute band"

Glen Matlock has once again spoken out about the tensions with John Lydon and the accusations levelled at the current incarnation of the Sex Pistols, dismissed by the singer as a mere “tribute band”. The bassist, who is the subject of the new documentary “I Was A Teenage Sex Pistol”, has also ruled out any possibility of a future reunion with the former frontman.
The film, directed by Andre Relis and Nick Mead and based on the autobiography Matlock published in 1996, traces his role in the birth of British punk and, above all, his contribution to the Sex Pistols. Matlock was in fact co-author of ten of the twelve tracks on “Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols”, before leaving the band in 1977.
The documentary features figures such as Billy Idol, Debbie Harry, Chris Stein, Clem Burke, Gary Kemp and Rat Scabies, while Lydon appears only through archival footage. In an interview with Billboard, Matlock explained that he had not directly involved the singer: “I just think he wasn't interested. He's moved beyond the Sex Pistols by now. He's got Public Image Ltd., and I wish him well.”
The musician then responded to Lydon's criticism of the reunion with Frank Carter, which the singer has repeatedly called “karaoke” and even “almost mean-spirited in its intentions”. “People say we're a tribute band without John, but there are three of us from the original lineup, while he's the only member of Public Image Ltd. It seems to me he's backed himself into a corner of a very big hallway,” he commented.

Since 2024, Matlock, Steve Jones and Paul Cook have in fact revived the Sex Pistols with Frank Carter on vocals, initially to raise funds for London's Bush Hall. The collaboration has continued since then with shows and tours. Asked whether he would consider having Lydon return to the band, Matlock was blunt: “It's not going to happen.”
In recent years Lydon has repeatedly ruled out any reconciliation. In a 2025 interview he stated he would “never” return to the Sex Pistols, accusing his former bandmates of turning everything into something “childish” and devoid of the band's original spirit: “As far as I'm concerned, I am the Pistols and they are not.” Matlock had already responded to the singer's comments in 2024, arguing that Lydon was wrong to dismiss the shows with Carter as “bollocks”: “John has made his choices. He's happy with Public Image Ltd. and that's fine. I keep doing my own thing without feeling obliged to live only off the past.”

The Sex Pistols with Frank Carter will also be touring in the coming months to celebrate the band's fiftieth anniversary, with US dates from September and UK shows planned for December.
Meanwhile, John Lydon is working on a new Public Image Ltd. album, a project he has said he also wants to use as an outlet following the death of his wife Nora. “We need to go back to being a real rock band capable of tearing everything down,” he recently said. Just last night, PiL played at Milan's Alcatraz for the Italian date of their “This Is Not The Last Tour”. Not a nostalgic celebration of post-punk, nor a reunion built to reassure audiences with an untouchable catalogue of memories: PiL's performance is instead raw and deliberately uneven, with a band that continues to treat its own material as something living and imperfect.

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