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The Sex Pistols will celebrate the 50th anniversary of punk in the Hungarian capital next year, with singer Frank Carter joining them for a concert in Budapest Park on July 20, 2026.
In the fall of 1975, a few guys hanging out around Malcolm McLaren's boutique in Soho, London, Steve Jones (guitar), Paul Cook (drums) and Glen Matlock (bass guitar) were joined by a guy named Johnny Lydon (later Rotten), who, although he had no voice, could jump strangely, fit the bill, and was accepted into the band. That was how the Sex Pistols came to be.
Sex Pistols existed for only two years but the band became iconic
The Sex Pistols existed for just two years, from 1975 to the end of 1977, during which time they made only one album, but their songs are still the foundation of punk music. They rebelled against the British government, the royal family, the record companies, and inequality, while being defiant, obscene, and drunk.
McLaren managed these boys who could barely play music well, because EMI signed them in October 1976 and recorded Anarchy in the UK with them. In January 1977, however, they were fired due to a lot of trouble and fighting - with a severance pay of 40 thousand pounds. The A & M label released their album in March for similar reasons, with even more severance pay; by then, the bassist Sid Vicious, who was a real scandal hero and loved by punks, was almost completely unable to play his instrument, but that didn't matter.
The real breakthrough came when God Save the Queen reached number one in the charts despite being banned from daytime airplay on British radio stations due to its lyrics insulting the royal family and the state. However, their career quickly ended, as the band disbanded shortly after the release of their album Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols in the fall of 1977. Vicious died of a heroin overdose shortly afterwards (he had previously been accused of murdering his girlfriend).
The most influential punk band of all time
The Sex Pistols are considered by many to be the most influential punk band of all time; they shocked the British pop music scene with their often scandalous concerts, innovative style and songs. The band channeled the frustration and anger of generations into their songs.
In 1996, the founding members, Johnny Rotten, Steve Jones, Paul Cook and Glen Matlock, reunited for a tour, and after 2002 they gave further concerts - in 2008 they also played at the Sziget festival. Then many years of silence followed, which was finally broken last year, and although Lydon no longer joined them, they took to the stage again with Frank Carter at the microphone.
The renewed formation is touring under the name Sex Pistols feat Frank Carter on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the birth of the punk movement. In Budapest, another punk legend, the Damned, who have only performed here once, will be opening for them.
Source: MTI. hu
