This week’s news that John Lydon would be competing in the Eurovision Song Contest with his band Public Image Ltd. was certainly surprising. After all, something as flashy and elaborate as Eurovision doesn’t exactly scream punk rock, especially for someone who used to front the Sex Pistols under the name Johnny Rotten.
If you ask Lydon, though, that’s exactly what makes this endeavor punk rock.
“That’s the irony of it all!” Lydon tells Ireland’s RTE Radio 1. “Life throws out the unexpected at you occasionally.”
Still, that doesn’t mean Lydon has to be fan of Eurovision. In fact, Lydon is very much not a fan of Eurovision.
“It’s absolutely awful!” Lydon declares. “The songs, just the whole thing of it is disgusting, really, to me. I’m a songwriter, I perform live, and these shows, they just come off so dreadfully phony to me.”
He adds, “But look, here we go, we’re giving it a chance to break out of that mold.”
Lydon and PiL will compete to represent Ireland in Eurovision with their new song “Hawaii.” The track was written for Lydon’s wife, Nora, who is battling Alzheimer’s disease.
“It’s win, lose or draw, my wife gets the reward,” Lydon says. “It’s all about her for me.”
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