How punk icon John Lydon inspired a David Bowie project
John Lydon has done plenty with his extensive career. Known predominantly as the man who pioneered the punk movement, Lydon has had an elongated period in the limelight, making music and ruffling feathers. In turn, many people have been inspired by his unwaveringness, but one person who may come as a surprise as someone who was influenced by him is David Bowie.
It’s safe to say that David Bowie and John Lydon had a rocky relationship. While Bowie was a major influence on the punk scene, and his call that there was going to be a revitalised rock music scene in the near future predicted the musical revolution, Lydon was also never afraid to criticise Bowie every chance he got. This meant being brutally honest about his music, for better and worse.
For instance, Lydon was a big fan of the album Hunky Dory, “I loved Hunky Dory so much, I thought that was fucking amazing,” he said, “Just the songwriting and the originality and the absurdity of it.” That being said, when it comes to The Man Who Sold the World, Lydon wasted no time in calling it a “Terrible fucking record.”
It’s interesting that Lydon was always so willing to offer up his opinion on David Bowie’s projects, as it turns out he directly influenced one of them. Tin Machine was a British-American rock band fronted by Bowie, who said he was keen on forming the band “to make the kind of music that we enjoyed listening to.” Some of the rock elements might have a sprinkle of punk-esque energy, but one of the main influences came from the name.
It turns out that David Bowie’s son was a big fan of Lydon’s band, Public Image Ltd, and one of their albums, Metal Box, helped the band name themselves, seeing the homage as a clear reflection of the music they were making. Lydon had no idea about this and confessed he found it a surprise before remembering Bowie’s son admitting to being a fan after meeting him backstage one day.
“I met Joe, he came to one of our gigs and brought his daddy along. Daddy bribed the bouncers to get backstage,” he said. “They came two minutes before I was going on stage, which annoyed me. I was extremely nervous at that point and I thought it insensitive.”
Lydon went on, leaning into one of his infamous rants, this time talking about some people with children. “I’m not into son and heir stuff, that’s for insecure arseholes,” he said mockingly, “A lot of people use their kids as ego extensions. It justifies their dismal marriage and boring life – ‘I’m doing it all for them!’”
John Lydon has been an inspiration to many. As soon as he and the Sex Pistols hit the airwaves, people all over the country were trying to imitate both his sound and message. However, it turns out that influence stretches further than a disgruntled youth, as one of the musicians who predicted punk also got on board with what Lydon was doing.