John Joseph Lydon

John Joseph Lyndon

John Joseph Lydon, in his early career also known as Johnny Rotten, was an English punk musician who entered the punk scene in 1975. He was the lead vocalist of the Sex Pistols and the Public Image Ltd., the two most influential English punk bands. What makes him my hero is his sarcastic and provocative public persona with anarchistic politics. As a band frontman his musical innovations have always been very influential for the rebellious youth of that time.

He spent his childhood in poverty, living in a council estate with his two younger brothers. The situation was worsened in his seventh year by a serious bout with spinal meningitis. He spent several months in hospital with periods of coma that made a severe physical and mental damage on the young boy. At the end he had lost most of his memory and was forced to learn how to talk for a second time. The resentment and frustration of his situation ultimately led to his expulsion by age 15.

By this time he had adopted the style of dress that would become a trademark of the punk movement, a style that was also being promoted by a clothing shop established by Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood. Malcolm Mclaren, also the Sex Pistols manager, was impressed with John's ragged look and unique sense of style, particularly his orange hair and the ˝I hate Pink Floyd˝ T-Shirt, and so he chose him as the band�s vocalist. This way he became a member of the most noted punk group ever, but also the public enemy number one. At that time he also got the nickname Johnny Rotten because of the bad condition of his teeth. As the Sex Pistols broke up he formed a new band named Public Image Ltd. This was a band who mixed and played all sorts of music types.

But in his life, Johnny Rotten was much much more than just a starter of the punk scene and the frontman of the Sex Pistols. He was opened to all sorts of music and was one of the first musicians who teamed up with many different artists from different music scenes. He has and still works on many programs for young artists and other people who need help. In 1996 he finally reunited with the Sex Pistols and made the �Filthy Lucre� world tour that was hugely successful.

He is a hero to me mostly because of his open minded ideology, a unique way of dressing and his influence in punk music and the youth in the 70�s in Great Britain. But all the time he was developing all music stiles and finally the modern music has come to his way of thinking that consists of connection between the music stiles.