Sex Pistols

Formed in London in 1975 around Johnny Rotten (John Lydon), Steve Jones, Glen Matlock — later replaced by Sid Vicious — and Paul Cook, Sex Pistols belong to the first wave of British punk, set against a backdrop of social crisis and a youth culture breaking with mainstream norms. The band coalesced around manager Malcolm McLaren and the milieu of the SEX boutique on King’s Road, before gaining notice on London’s small-venue scene. Between 1976 and 1977, Sex Pistols released several singles, including “Anarchy in the U.K.” (1976) and “God Save the Queen” (1977), which defined a direct punk-rock style: fast tempo, distorted guitars, abrasive vocals and lyrics explicitly hostile to British institutions. Their sole studio album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols (1977), condenses this aesthetic, favoring simple structures, raw energy and a dense sound rooted in rock’n’roll. Undermined by internal tensions, lineup changes at bass and intense media exposure, Sex Pistols split in 1978 after an American tour, before several sporadic reunions from 1996 onward for concerts and tours focused on that repertoire. The band’s story continues through reissues, compilations and documentary films that repeatedly situate them in the narrative of punk’s emergence in the UK.