John Lydon isn’t slowing down anytime soon. The 69-year-old punk icon says he’s already hard at work on the next PiL album and has no plans to stop writing, even while out on the road.
Lydon, who formed PiL back in 1978 after the breakup of the Sex Pistols, confirmed that new material is on the way. Speaking to Contactmusic.com, he said, “Yeah, we will. Yeah. For the new album I’m constantly writing. When we’re on a tour bus all that starts to happen.”
Writing has been second nature for Lydon ever since childhood. “I never stop writing. It’s been like that all my life, since I learned to read and write when I was four, I just loved writing. I’ve got reams of ideas. But I’d be lucky if out of 800 pages I could skim two lines. It’s consistent and I might not be in that mind frame later on down the line.”
The upcoming record will be PiL’s twelfth and the follow-up to End of the World, which dropped in 2023. It’ll also be the fourth studio album since the band reformed in 2009.
Interestingly, Lydon says his lyrical tone has shifted over the years. “Life. Existence. A sense of joy in everything. I’m not a misery guts. I’m not one for wallowing in self-pity,” he said. “Obviously, I’ve had my moments in that, but that would not inspire me to put out an album of introspective mediocrity. This is not Peter Hammill here.”
Instead, Lydon finds inspiration in humor and the oddities of everyday life. “There’s no fantasy island in my writing; it’s all based on experiences. I find fun in everything, and humour. That creates intrigue and then I investigate my subjects until I can pen it accurately and properly.”
As PiL hits the road this summer, fans can expect a high-energy live show, powered, surprisingly, by Lydon’s nerves. “Stage fright. I’ve read a lot of books about that, by Alec Guinness and those kind of actors who talk about stage fright and it really helped me when I was young,” he admitted.
“It’s a really valuable tool, because without that you won’t have the inner stamina to do what you next on stage. You have to basically s*** yourself, you do. I still do but I like that, the relief once I’m on stage, that’s the reward. And then it’s sink or swim.”
Here are the full Public Image Ltd 2025 tour dates:
- 12 June – Dublin, 3Olympia
- 13 June – Limerick, Dolan’s Warehouse
- 22 June – Milton Keynes, Forever Now Festival
- 24 June – Margate, Dreamland
- 26 June – Hastings, White Rock
- 27 June – Newark, Stone Valley Festival Midlands
- 28 June – Oxford, O2 Academy
- 1 July – Warrington, Parr Hall
- 3 July – Leicester, O2 Academy
- 4 July – Lincoln, Engine Shed
- 5 July – Portsmouth, Guildhall
- 26 July – Cardiff, Depot
- 30 July – Sheffield, Leadmill
- 31 July – Northampton, Roadmenders
- 1 August – Holmfirth, Picturedrome
- 2 August – Coventry, Empire
- 7 August – Cheltenham, Town Hall
- 8 August – Durham, Stone Valley Festival North
- 9 August – Blackpool, Rebellion Festival
- 15 August – Cork, City Hall
- 16 August – Belfast, Custom House Square
Whether you’re a longtime PiL fan or just curious about John Lydon’s evolution, this summer’s tour promises a mix of classic anthems and possibly a sneak peek at what’s coming next.
