Steve Jones says Sex Pistols are having 'a blast' without singer drama

If the Sex Pistols aren't having a good time, then Steve Jones isn't interested.

And if anyone has a criticism about him "traveling large" on the road, he isn't interested in that opinion, either.

"We stay in nice hotels ... ‘Oh, that's not punk, flying on a private plane.' I don't care," he says.

Jones isn't being grumpy. He's simply earned the right to be blunt.

A founding member of the British punk legends, Jones is ready to grab his guitar and get back onstage with original comrades Paul Cook on drums and Glen Matlock on bass. Since 2024, singer Frank Carter has stepped into the role established by John Lydon, aka Johnny Rotten, who last performed with the band in 2008 and continues to have a contentious relationship with them.

But Jones, 70, has nothing but positive vibes about this current incarnation of the Sex Pistols, who will circle the U.S. in clubs and theaters starting Sept. 11 at Dallas' Longhorn Ballroom – the first time the band has played the venue since their infamous 1978 U.S. tour – through Oct. 18.

Most of the shows are rescheduled dates from last year, after Jones broke his wrist in what he calls an "old man" accident.

Regardless of age, the Sex Pistols' landmark – and only – album, 1977's "Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols," will always maintain its scuzzy appeal thanks to the undiminished appreciation of "God Save the Queen" and "Anarchy in the U.K." The band will perform "Never Mind …" in its entirety at each tour stop.

During a recent video chat, Jones discussed the last time he spoke with Lydon, how the Sex Pistols' outrageous 1978 tour of the U.S. was "even scarier" than lore, and the one thing he is "terrified" of happening.

Question: So how is the wrist?

Steve Jones: It's pretty good. But it's got a nice big (lump). There's a long scar along here (holds his arm to the camera and traces his vein path halfway up his forearm) because there's a plate in there. Which I need because my wrist was really smashed to pieces. I broke this wrist a couple of times before on motorcycles, but this was an old man accident.

Has the plate hampered your playing?

It's basically just the strumming (mimics playing a guitar) and I just go "do do do do do" so there's no problem.

Do you have to do any particular physical activity to stay in shape for the road since you aren't out there regularly?

Yeah, I walk. I like to get a few miles in every day. But I should do some squats because the leg muscles are the first to go when you get older and I'm terrified about falling over again, honestly. And I seem to do it a lot. That's my biggest fear. And standing on stage, you've got to have muscle strength to stand there and play. You've seen videos of guys in bands falling over on stage. You don't want to be one of those videos.

Most people would say the Sex Pistols are the defining punk band. But punk by nature is about blowing things up in the moment, yet we're still talking about that one album from 50 years ago.

It's bizarre, right? What other band does that happen with? Even The Clash had a bunch of albums and well, the Stones have 1,000 albums and are still going. But if you can get out there and make people happy, why not? What else am I going to do? Well, I could be a DJ. I mean, I did it for 10 years ("Jonesy's Jukebox" on Indie 103.1 in Los Angeles).

But that is a whole different level of energy than playing live with the crowd in front of you.

And that's what's great about Frank Carter. He's younger and he's just the ringmaster in the circus. He gets the crowd going. He dives in there and gets in the mosh pit and me and Paul and Glen are hammering it away in the background. People seem to love it, and we love it because we're having a good time.

As opposed to before?

We didn't get along much with John in the past. Not all the time, but it was just a pain and it was like, what are we doing this for? It's not worth it. It's just draining when there's too much conflict and aggravation. And there is none of that with Frank. We're just having a blast.

Does anyone keep in touch with John?

I haven't spoken to him since 2008 when we last played some shows in Europe. I mean, we have to deal with each other; we're still in a corporation and there's stuff that needs to be done. And we had that lawsuit about the Disney show "Pistol" (Lydon lost a court battle with Jones and Cook about the rights to use the band's music in the miniseries). He wasn't too happy with that.

What did you think would happen to the band after 2008?

I thought we're never going to play again. And then this opportunity came up and the idea of using a different singer seemed so alien originally. But then I was like, why not? Let's see if people dig it and if they don't, we'll stop.

The Sex Pistols' first and last U.S. tour with the original lineup was in 1978. When you look back on that tour, was it as chaotic as legend has it?

I think it was worse than that. Especially in San Antonio and some of the other places. I mean, (the crowds) were really scary, throwing everything in the kitchen sink at the stage and there were some scary people in the audience. The publicity we were getting, well, it was better than Ozzy (Osbourne) bites heads off chickens, but the circus was in town and the folk wanted to see what the fuss was all about. It might have been different maybe in New York or San Francisco, but in those cowboy states, it was just scary.

When you play those well-worn songs now, are you still feeling a sense of rebellion or is it more nostalgia at this point?

We're just enjoying it. We're not looking at it as nostalgic, just as a tight rock ‘n' roll band who's having a blast. And I know Cookie (Cooks) and Glen and me, we're just looking at each other and goofing around on stage. The spitting-at-people days are long gone.

Do you see any other bands carrying on the punk aesthetic the right way?

I don't know what the right way is to us – we're just playing rock ‘n' roll. I mean, is The Ramones the right way? Is it The Damned? Is it The Clash or a bunch of other bands that were around at that time? Is it Green Day? It's everyone playing the way they want to play and we're not playing to appease someone. We're playing it the way we want to play it. That's all we know.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Steve Jones says Sex Pistols are having 'a blast' without singer drama

Reporting by Melissa Ruggieri, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect

This story was originally published July 10, 2026 at 1:14 PM.