“Lydon is a pavement philosopher whose Dickensian roots blossom with Joycean colour.” Rolling Stone magazine.

San Francisco, 1978.  The Sex Pistol’s short career had come to a chaotic and messy demise. But their work was already done, their impact on modern culture immeasurable. While his band-mates descended either into parody or, in the case of Sid Vicious, a fatal heroin overdose, sardonic frontman John Lydon nee Rotten emerged from the centre of the storm with his credibility intact. His career since had been astonishing.

Overcoming a life-threatening bout of spiral meningitis as a child (which left him with his infamous piercing stare) and rising from humble London-Irish beginnings to iconic status by the age of twenty-one, the emancipated Rotten had always been the driving force in punk’s finest. Yet he went on to conduct an equally as challenging career since that has ensured his status as a thorn in the side of the establishment and a true English eccentric. Over the quarter century that followed he moved easily from anti-monarchist punk frontman to reconstructed pop star to real estate mogul to ever-controversial TV star – and always on his terms.

Lydon has since been a talent scout, a TV talk show host, a millionaire property developer and so much more – not least frontman to numerous eclectic and inspirational bands such as the revered Public Image Limited (whose full history has never been covered by a book). Always evolving, Lydon then moved into a more dance-orientated direction, notching up more chart success throughout the mid-80s. He also represented the Sex Pistols in a lengthy court battle with former manager/adversary Malcolm McLaren – and won.

Lydon was arguably the most famous British ex-pat, happily married and living in the elite Venice Beach, California – then the Sex Pistols reformation divided punk fans but nevertheless was a massive commercial success, spawning live albums and introducing the band to a new generation. He has recently been propelled back into a higher profile than ever as a contestant on ITV’s jungle adventure show ‘I’m A Celebrity….Get Me Out Of Here’, controversially walking out of the show before completion - not for the first time in his career did he represent the dissent and disgust of more cerebral factions of the nation. And not for the first time was he subject of unprecedented tabloid coverage.

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