Anecdotes

He was supposed to be on Pan American World Airways Flight 103 from London's Heathrow International Airport to New York's John F. Kennedy Airport on December 21, 1988, but missed the flight because his wife Nora, hadn't packed in time. The plane crashed over the town of Lockerbie, Scotland when a terrorist bomb exploded in the forward cargo hold, killing all 259 passengers and crew.

Lydon was knifed by offended Royalists after the Sex Pistols' classic anti-monarchy song "God Save The Queen" was released, resulting in the permanent loss of feeling in the middle two fingers of his left hand. He has played the guitar right-handed ever since.

The whole "Johnny Rotten" persona was indicated as a stage act in "The Filth & the Fury," the considerably more flattering of two documentaries on the Sex Pistols. Johnny Lydon was said to be a sickly, quiet, bookish type before he joined the group and the documentary showed that many aspects of his stage persona were inspired directly by Laurence Olivier's performance in the film "Richard III": the hunched back, the half-sneer/half-grin, the loud clothes, the tendency to shout insults at any "passersby."

Sufferred Spinal Meningitis as a child.

The Sex Pistols were voted the 58th Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Artists of all time by Rolling Stone.

Stepfather of Ari Up (née Ariana Forster) of the punk band The Slits.

Lives in Los Angeles with his wife and Step-children.

DJ for BBC Radio Two (octobre 2002)

He openly supported Donald Trump in the 2020 US presidential election, one of very few celebrities to do so.

Three younger brothers, Jimmy, Bobby and Martin Lydon

Son of John Christopher and Eileen Lydon.

Is portrayed by Mark Windows in 24 Hour Party People (2002).

"Who Killed Bambi?," which would have been a Russ Meyer-directed film about the Sex Pistols, would have ended with Johnny Rotten breaking the fourth wall by looking directly into the camera and asking, "Ever get the feeling you're being watched?" Rotten would end the final Sex Pistols concert, at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, CA on January 14, 1978, by asking the crowd, "Ever get the feeling you've been cheated? Good night," dropping the microphone and walking off stage.

Is portrayed by Andrew Schofield in Sid & Nancy (1986)