When John Lydon blanked Paul and Linda McCartney: “I couldn’t handle it”
John Lydon recalled avoiding an unexpected encounter with Paul and Linda McCartney during the Sex Pistols’ rise, saying he was overwhelmed by shyness rather than making a deliberate punk statement. The episode highlights the tension between Lydon’s anti-establishment public image and the discomfort he felt after becoming famous himself.
The article places the encounter against punk’s rejection of 1960s rock icons, noting that the Sex Pistols recreated the Beatles’ famous EMI balcony photograph in the late 1970s. Lydon later met McCartney again and described him as friendly, but maintained that he disliked McCartney’s music despite being open to friendship.
- Lydon ignored the McCartneys because shyness overwhelmed him.
- Punk’s anti-Beatles symbolism framed the awkward encounter.
- He later praised McCartney personally, but not his music.