Sex Pistols legend Johnny Rotten has raged against a new compilation album which he says was released without his support.
The punk frontman, real name John Lydon, hit out at record label Universal Music Group for releasing a compilation of his band’s tracks without, he says, any input from him or his team.
Compilation album The Original Recordings features collections of recordings taken between 1976 to 1978, and is set for release on May 27.
While the announcement was made on the official Sex Pistols Twitter account, it appears at least one member of the band is not at all happy with the record or its release.
John, 66, issued a blistering statement on Wednesday via his team, writing: ‘For the avoidance of any doubt, John Lydon has not approved this compilation and does not endorse or support it.
‘He has not approved the artwork or tracklisting.
‘He and his team were not involved in producing this compilation and consider it substandard compared to previous Universal releases since 2012.’
It’s not the first time John has withheld support for Sex Pistols songs being used: last year, two former band members took the frontman to court in a row over their songs being used in a TV series.
The group’s former drummer Paul Cook and guitarist Steve Jones took legal action to allow their songs to be used in TV drama Pistol, directed by Danny Boyle
Following a court battle, the High Court found that the pair were entitled to invoke ‘majority voting rules’ against John, under the terms of a band member agreement (BMA).
A furious John found the decision ‘dumbfounding,’ arguing in a statement at the time: ‘I am the lead singer and songwriter, frontman, image, the lot, you name it.
‘I put it there. How is that not relevant? It is dumbfounding to me.’
He went on: ‘It is so destructive to what the band is and so I fear that the whole project might be extremely negative.
‘How can anyone think that this can proceed without consulting me and deal with my personal life in this, and my issues in this, without any meaningful contact with me before the project is announced to the world.’
John had claimed that, despite asking for details of the script or screenplay, the former singer still does not know the details of the project.
Six-part-series Pistol is based on a 2016 memoir by Mr Jones called Lonely Boy: Tales From A Sex Pistol, and stars actors including Maisie Williams, Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Iris Law.
Metro.co.uk has reached out to Universal Musical Group and reps for John for comment.
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