Rhino Factoids: The Sex Pistols Boycott The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame

11 years ago today, the Sex Pistols were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Not that they were there to have the honored bestowed upon them, mind you, but it’s the day it happened nonetheless.

Given that the whole point of punk rock was ostensibly to do away with the bloated excess of the 1970s rock scene and get back to basics with material that was raw, angry, and pure, it stands to reason that John Lydon, Steve Jones, Paul Cook, and Glen Matlock would react poorly to the idea of being inducted into something as respectable as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. As such, few Pistols fans were surprised when the announcement in February 2006 of their impending induction resulted in a statement from the band which offered as much of a sneer as the “we don’t care” in their song “Pretty Vacant.”

The statement, which appeared in scrawl-like text on the Sex Pistols’ official website, read as follows:

"Next to the Sex Pistols, rock and roll and that hall of fame is a piss stain. Your museum. Urine in wine. We're not coming. We're not your monkeys. If you voted for us, hope you noted your reasons. Your anonymous as judges but your still music industry people. We're not coming. Your not paying attention. Outside the shit-stream is a real Sex Pistol."

(Yes, those spelling errors are from the original text. Seriously, do you really think we’re going to edit those guys? If so, think again.)

A few days before the induction ceremony, Lydon appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live and answered Kimmel’s question as to why he and his fellow Pistols were so hell-bent on refusing to have anything to do with the Hall of Fame.

"They never cared who we were," Lydon said. "They never bothered to correct the incredible fatal, bad mistakes about our legend and legacy in their museum and up until now, they've rejected our nomination for three years running, and now they want a piece of us. Well, guess what? Kiss this!"

Needless to say, Lydon followed that last remark with an impolite gesture, the naughty boy.