From the legendary frontman of the Sex Pistols, comes the complete,
unvarnished story of his life in his own words.
John Lydon is an icon--one of the most recognizable and influential
cultural figures of the last forty years. As Johnny Rotten, he was the
lead singer of the Sex Pistols-the world's most notorious band. The
Pistols shot to fame in the mid-1970s with songs such as "Anarchy in the
UK" and "God Save the Queen." So incendiary was their impact at the time
that in their native England, the Houses of Parliament questioned
whether they violated the Traitors and Treasons Act, a crime that
carries the death penalty to this day. The Pistols would inspire the
formation of numerous other groundbreaking groups and Lydon would become
the unlikely champion of a generation clamoring for change.
Following on the heels of the Pistols, Lydon formed Public Image Ltd
(PiL), expressing an equally urgent impulse in his character: the
constant need to reinvent himself, to keep moving. From their beginnings
in 1978 PiL set the groundbreaking template for a band that continues to
challenge and thrive to this day, while also recording one of the
eighties most powerful anthems, "Rise." Lydon also found time for making
innovative dance records with the likes of Afrika Bambaataa and
Leftfield. By the nineties he'd broadened his reach into other media
while always maintaining his trademark invective and wit, most memorably
hosting Rotten TV on VH1.
John Lydon remains a captivating and dynamic figure to this day--both as
a musician, and, thanks to his outspoken, controversial, and
from-the-hip opinions, as a cultural commentator. In Anger is an
Energy, he looks back on a life full of incident, from his beginnings
as a sickly child of immigrant Irish parents growing up in post-war
London to his present status as a vibrant, alternative hero.
The book includes 70 black-and-white and color photos, many which are
rare or never-before-seen.
