John Lydon, the frontman of Sex Pistols, criticized music reality shows, calling The Voice and American Idol “humiliating”.
Lydon, whose band Public Image Ltd. has just released their first album in 20 years, entitled ‘This Is PiL’, expressed that music reality shows are “dragging us back into Las Vegas wannabes”.
Recently, he commented on music reality shows like The Voice: “They’re dragging us back into Las Vegas wannabes. And there’s the painful tone of humiliation, the smirking at who gets voted off. And people now think that’s the universe of music. That’s utterly corrupting too.”
Lydon further stated that he feels no sympathy for record labels facing financial issues, remarking: “The record companies fell apart – quite deservedly. Their corrupting, all-binding contract nonsense had to stop. But this modernization of sampling and regurgitating of old ideas isn’t healthy either. Live music is healthy.”
Discussing the long hiatus between PiL albums, he noted that the 20-year gap was “not my choice”. He elaborated: “Not my choice. The record company and contract obligations kept me in a state of non-recoupment and I had to out-wait them.”
He added, “It was a very difficult time for me, almost like a state of mental starvation. You’re gagging at the bit to work, and music’s my life. But I found that the law worked against me, all the corporations and accountants. So I had a very negative view of business-as-usual.”
Last month, Lydon distanced himself from the re-release of Sex Pistols’ ‘God Save The Queen’, which came out on May 28, coinciding with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. In his statement, he clarified that the campaign to push the track to the Number One position is “not my campaign” and claimed that it “totally undermines what the Sex Pistols stood for”.
by Wallace McTavish
