# In the late 1970s, John Lydon was willing to leave the Sex Pistols for prog rock, but he was rejected

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/in-the-late-1970s-john-lydon-was-willing-to-leave-the-sex-pistols-for-prog-rock-but-he-was-rejected/
- Published: 2026-11-03T14:00:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-04T01:19:02+00:00
- Original publisher: Far Out
- Original article: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/1970s-john-lydon-willing-leave-sex-pistols-prog-rock/
- Topics: Entertainment, Europe, Music, World

## Key points

- Lydon sought to become Can’s singer.
- Can had already stopped performing together.
- He later formed experimental group Public Image Ltd.

## Summary

John Lydon, then known as Johnny Rotten and frontman of the Sex Pistols, tried to join the experimental German band Can in the late 1970s. Can co-founder Irmin Schmidt later said Lydon repeatedly left messages because he wanted to sing with them, but the band had already stopped performing together.

The timing ended a striking possible change of direction for Lydon, who admired progressive and experimental music despite his punk reputation. After the Sex Pistols broke up, he formed Public Image Ltd, whose boundary-pushing sound drew on influences such as Can and was later associated with early post-rock.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.