Sex Pistols Shove Off Rock Hall of Fame

Furious and snarling, the Sex Pistols exploded onto the world stage in 1977. Their anti-authoritarian stance, expressed in songs like Anarchy in the UK and God Save The Queen, outraged society and turned the music world upside down. As the years passed, more and more people started to recognize how great a rock band the Pistols actually were, and while they’ve been copied by a million others, few have managed to capture that original rebellious spirit. Punk was always much more than a style of music, it was an aggressive stance that demanded a break with the status quo. True to form, the Pistols have once again stormed the world stage, reminding us all that it’s possible to bite the hand that feeds us crap.

[ God Save The Queen. Silkscreen print by Jamie Reid, 1977. This image was one of many created by the artist to help promote the Sex Pistols. A version of this print was published as the cover art for the Pistols’ second single, God Save The Queen. In March of 2001 Reid’s graphic appeared in the book, 100 Best Record Covers Of All Time, where it was proclaimed the "best record cover ever produced."]

After being snubbed for years, the Pistols were finally inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in late 2005, with the band receiving an invitation from the Hall of Fame foundation to attend the March 13th, 2006 induction ceremonies in New York City. As might be expected by anyone familiar with the subversive stance of punk, the band has refused its induction, turning its back on the ceremonies with an impetuously scrawled message to the Hall of Fame foundation. The seething communiqué, full of atrocious spelling and grammatical errors, was posted to the official Sex Pistols website on February 24th, 2006 - it reads as follows:

"Next to the SEX PISTOLS rock and roll and that hall of fame is a piss stain. Your museum. Urine in wine. Were not coming. Were not your monkey and so what? Fame at $25,000 if we paid for a table, or $15,000 to squeak up in the gallery, goes to a non-profit organization selling us a load of old famous. Congradulations. If you voted for us, hope you noted your reasons.Your anonymous as judges, but your still music industry people. We're not coming.Your not paying attention. Outside the shit-stem is a real SEX PISTOL."