Where Are the Sex Pistols Members Now and What Happened to the Group?

Pistol charts the rise and fall of the Sex Pistols and the influence they had on a generation in the 1970s.

The FX show, which lands on Hulu on Tuesday, May 31, explores the creation of the band and their career up until their split in 1978, but it does not advise audiences on where they are now.

Where Are the Sex Pistols Members Now and What Happened to the Group?

1. Johnny Rotten

Johnny Rotten no longer goes by his stage name but his real name, John Lydon, which he has used since he left the group in January 1978.

Following his departure from the Sex Pistols Lydon formed the group Public Image Ltd, or PiL, with Keith Levene, Jah Wobble and Jim Walker.

PiL remained active from 1978 to 1999 and released eight albums together before the group went on a hiatus until 2009. After reforming PiL released two more albums.

Lydon has also released his own solo music and appeared on reality TV show I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! in the U.K.

In 2021, Lydon competed on the sixth season of The Masked Singer as Jester. He is very outspoken and has criticized Pistol, which the showrunner and cast have spoken about with Newsweek.

2. Sid Vicious

Sid Vicious was the last member to join the Sex Pistols, but his story is one that doesn't extend much further than the band itself.

The bass guitarist died of a heroin overdose at the age of 21 on February 2, 1979, a day after he was released on bail after becoming the prime suspect in his girlfriend Nancy Spungen's death.

3. Steve Jones

Steve Jones' autobiography Lonely Boy: Tales From a Sex Pistol is largely the basis for Pistol and he was heavily involved in the creation of the show.

After the Sex Pistols disbanded, Jones and the band's drummer Paul Cook formed another group named The Professionals.

As well as this group, Jones released his own solo albums and he has also worked with the likes of Iggy Pop, Bob Dylan and Thin Lizzy.

Jones is also a successful DJ in his own right and he became a household name with his radio show Jonesy's Jukebox in Los Angeles, which he began in 2004.

4. Paul Cook

Paul Cook, like Jones, worked closely with the cast and crew of Pistol to help them recreate the Sex Pistols.

Jacob Slater, who plays Cook, shared with Newsweek that he found it "surreal" to be able to meet and work with his real-life counterpart.

He said: "It was slightly surreal, especially having listened to them kind of growing up and stuff. Like, 'oh, there you are' and now I've got to be you in some way, shape or form.

"But I think you know, we had a really good team sort of coaching us on all the music stuff, and yeah hopefully we ended up doing it justice.

"Also, the actual guys themselves were really helpful and they had a lot of input musically. So [they were] really generous."

5. Glen Matlock

Glen Matlock left the Sex Pistols in 1977, at which point Sid Vicious replaced him as the group's bass guitarist.

Matlock subsequently formed his own bands Rich Kids and the Spectres and also played bass on the albums of several musicians including Iggy Pop and The Damned.

Although he left the Sex Pistols in 1977, Matlock performed with the band again after he, Cook, Jones, and Lydon reunited for several tours between 1996 and 2008.

In April 2022 he filled in for Leigh Foxx on Blondie's tour of the U.K. and U.S.

Pistol is available to watch in full on Hulu now.