Entertainment
John Lydon gig axed after ‘aggression’ from tour manager: ‘The days of this kind of behaviour is long gone’
John was due on stage in Glasglow last night (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Rex/Shutterstock)
A gig John Lydon was scheduled to perform in Glasgow this week was axed due to ‘aggression’ from the star’s tour manager, according to the venue.
As part of his I Could Be Wrong, I Could Be Right book tour, Sex Pistols star Lydon – AKA Johnny Rotten – was due to take to the stage at The Pavilion Theatre on Monday where he was set to ‘talk about how he sees life, along with his unique and extraordinary career, and take audience questions’.
However, a statement from the venue’s general manager claimed ‘aggression and intimidation’ from a member of Lydon’s team scuppered the planned appearance.
A statement shared on Twitter from Iain Gordon read: ‘Unfortunately, due to the aggression and intimidation made to various members of my staff by John Lydon’s tour manager, tonight’s show will not go ahead.’
It added: ‘The days of this kind of behaviour is long gone. We have a zero tolerance policy of abuse, both physical and verbal, and this behaviour has been ongoing for the past two weeks.
‘We are sorry if this affects you but as a company we will not accept this kind of attitude to our staff from anyone, including members of the public and touring staff. Our box office will be in contact with you directly to organise refund of your tickets.’
Lydon is yet to publicly address the venue’s statement, but did share a short post on Twitter yesterday confirming the gig had been cancelled ‘unexpectedly’.
According to his tour page, he’s set to take to the stage in Yarm tonight, followed by Leicester, Chesterfield, and then Shrewsbury on October 31.
Lydon was recently tangled in a bitter legal dispute with his former Sex Pistols bandmates regarding music use in Danny Boyle’s new mini-series, Pistol.
He argued that a 1988 contract signed by himself and bandmates Steve Jones and Paul Cook regarding music licensing was not adhered to. However, the judge ruled that all parties have complied with the contract and that the majority of the band can overrule a single veto.
The rocker on to claim his former bandmates ‘did the dirty’ on him, telling Metro: ‘For three years his project was going to exclude me. I only found out in January and they took me to court a month and a bit later under the guise that I denied them access to the songs.
‘I denied nothing. All I did was ask what was going on and to this day I’ve received no information at all.
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‘Not bad work, Danny Boyle, if you want to be doing a series on the Sex Pistols and you exclude the main image, the songwriter, the lead singer, the man who stood up and took it on the chin.’
In response, a spokesperson for the series said: ‘John Lydon sold his rights to control the use of these songs in the 1990s in return for money. The majority rule agreement existed as a result — so no outside party could dictate the use of the band’s music. And to have a mechanism in place if one member was unfairly blocking the decision-making process — which is what happened in this instance.’
Metro.co.uk contacted reps of Lydon for comment.
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