"I was done after that, no more." Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones hasn't spoken to Johnny Rotten since 2008

Steve Jones of Sex Pistols arrives to the FX's "Pistol" Los Angeles FYC Event at EL Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles, California on June 7, 2022.

(Image credit: Photo by MICHAEL TRAN/AFP via Getty Images))

Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones says he hasn't spoken to the band's frontman Johnny Rotten since 2008 – seemingly putting an end to any chance of the pair performing together again.

Rotten – aka John Lydon – and Jones last performed together under the Sex Pistols banner in 2008, with Paul Cook and Glen Matlock completing the lineup.

And according to Jones, those shows were as much as he could take.

He tells the Rockonteurs Podcast: “I haven’t spoken to him in years. 2008 was the last time I spoke to him. We did 30 shows around Europe. We did a bunch of festivals and all that, Japan, Australia.

"We ended up at Hammersmith Apollo and then we had one more show in the Basque country and that was it.

"I was done after that, no more. Too much. Too old, too much, not enough dough."

Having no desire to perform with Lydon again does not mean Jones has fallen out of love with the Sex Pistols as a live entity. This year, he, Cook and Matlock performed a number of shows as Sex Pistols with Frank Carter on vocals.

Their three-night residency at the Bush Hall in London saw them perform debut album Never Mind The Bollocks in its entirety at the shows – raising funds for the West London venue. They later played four UK shows, and are set to play Download festival next summer.

According to Jones, the gigs with Carter were very enjoyable.

He says: "This is different. It's a different vibe mate. Night and day.

"He doesn't try to be John. He got a lot better. I think he got really good. He's more comfortable. We only rehearsed for about a week before that."

Tensions between Lydon and the other Sex Pistols were ramped up further when six-part TV show Pistol was released last year against the singer's wishes.

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Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.