A US Sex Pistols tour with Frank Carter is on the horizon, guitarist Steve Jones has revealed.
The punk legends haven’t toured in the US since 2003 or played there at all since 2008, but Jones told NME that there are plans for new dates while discussing the band’s ill-fated 1978 tour in the country.
Earlier this month, it was revealed that they’re set to release three ‘Live In The USA 1978’ albums, too, following the tour on which manager Malcolm McLaren booked relatively obscure venues which ended up being filled with rather hostile audiences. Frontman Johnny Rotten, born John Lydon, left the group days after their San Francisco show on January 14, their final gig until they first reformed in 1996.
NME’s Jordan Bassett asked Jones whether the band might go back to the US, to which he replied: “We are!”
When Bassett replied that the news hadn’t been announced yet, Jones answered: “Yeah, but no one knows where we’re playing.”
However, he refused to give any more away, explaining: “I don’t wanna put my foot in it! I’m excited. I know the dates, so I know it’s gonna be good…”
Sid Vicious, Johnny Rotten and Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols perform live at The Winterland Ballroom in 1978 in San Francisco, California. CREDIT: Richard McCaffrey/Michael Ochs Archive via Getty Images
The band reformed last year with Frank Carter, of Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes and Gallows, as lead vocalist in place of Lydon, and played a series of shows including an autumn UK tour. In November, they were announced as part of the Download 2025 line-up, and earlier this month an Australian tour was announced. Today (January 27) they announced a show at London’s Royal Albert Hall for Teenage Cancer Trust too.
Of working with Carter, Jones said: “Frank was the first singer we [tried], because me, Cookie [drummer Paul Cook] and Glen [Matlock, bassist] wanted to play. It just worked straight away. He’s a lot younger than us. He’s 40, so he has all that energy and us old farts can just jam at the back! It was so much fun and people loved it, and I loved looking at people loving it.
“I was ready to throw it in, touring and all that. I couldn’t care less. But with Frank, it just made it easy. We all get along. There’s no aggro. It’s just fun!”
Lydon, meanwhile, hasn’t been involved with this current Sex Pistols reunion, instead preparing for a UK tour with his band Public Image Ltd (PiL) later this year. The band last toured in 2023 following the release of their latest album, ‘End Of World‘, that August.
He later said that he thought the group might not tour together again following the sudden death of his lifelong friend and manager John “Rambo” Stevens in December 2023, while his wife, Nora, also died earlier that year.
However, the support he received from fans after he embarked on a spoken word tour of the UK last year inspired him to tour with PiL again. In November, they announced the 23-date ‘This Is Not The Last Tour’, and the following month added a further four dates.
The post Sex Pistols reveal they’ll be heading on US tour with Frank Carter appeared first on NME.
