Contrary to most bands that have been around for nearly five decades, Public Image Ltd (PiL) isn’t trying to sell seats on its current North American tour by calling it a farewell. In fact, it’s doing the opposite: branding the current run “This Is Not… The Last PiL Tour” — a wink to the post-punk group’s 1984 hit “This Is Not a Love Song.”
Following last year’s string of shows in the UK and Europe, this is PiL’s first North American tour in eight years. With just 24 dates over the next two months, local fans are fortunate that it includes a San Diego stop at House of Blues on Sept. 11.
Despite the promise that this isn’t the end of the road for PiL, the tour almost didn’t happen.
In 2023, frontman John Lydon lost his wife of 44 years to Alzheimer’s disease and his lifelong friend and manager, John “Rambo” Stevens, suddenly died. The same year, longtime drummer Bruce Smith departed, prompting Lydon to contemplate retirement and never stepping onstage again.
“After everything that’s happened over the past few years, I thought for a moment that might be it for me,” the 70-year-old singer said. “After losing Nora, and then losing Rambo, I couldn’t see a clear way through.”
But the love and support of fans and memory of his wife’s appreciation for the band kept Lydon going.
“She wouldn’t have wanted us to crawl into a hole,” he said. “I had my moments of falling into self-indulgent pity, but I knew that if I ceased working she’d be furious at me!”
Earlier this year, the ever-irreverent Lydon, known for his venomous vibrato, appeared on the British version of “The Masked Singer” dressed as a yak. He later said he did it largely to help bankroll PiL’s new self-produced album, “Alive,” recorded during the band’s 2025 tour.
The foursome — which includes guitarist Lu Edmonds, bassist Scott Firth and drummer Mark Roberts, who replaced Smith — explicitly decided not to release the live album on streaming platforms or at retail. The only way fans can get a CD or vinyl copy is through A Way With Media.
Lydon (previously known as Johnny Rotten) formed PiL after leaving the Sex Pistols in 1978 because he wanted to do something radically different. Venturing beyond conventional punk, the group explored a mix of dub, noise, reggae, pop and experimental “anti-rock” across 11 studio albums.
The band’s first three albums, “Public Image: First Issue,” “Metal Box” and “The Flowers of Romance,” are widely regarded as influential works of the post-punk movement. But PiL’s biggest commercial success came in the 1980s, with a trio of new wave/modern rock albums yielding popular singles such as “This Is Not a Love Song,” “Rise,” “The Body” and “Disappointed.”
In 1992, PiL disbanded. During the 17-year hiatus, Lydon published his memoirs, released a solo album and, in 1999, put out the four-disc PiL retrospective, “Plastic Box.” The band regrouped in 2009, releasing three critically acclaimed albums over the subsequent years: “This is PiL”(2012), “What The World Needs Now…” (2015) and “End of World” (2023).
Lydon, who is working with the band on new songs for an early 2027 release, said the setlist on this tour will range from classics to current material.
“We cover a vast terrain because PiL’s catalogue isn’t stuck in one decade or one genre,” he said. “We’ll be performing songs from right across the spectrum — tracks from the early days like ‘First Issue’ and ‘Metal Box,’ straight through to our newest material.”
But the question likely on most people’s minds is: Nearly 50 years after Lydon left the Sex Pistols, is the original provocateur still full of spit and vinegar?
“I get terrified before going on stage,” he confessed. “I can’t eat; my stomach is in knots. Why? Because it’s so bloody important to me! When you look out into an audience, you owe them absolute honesty. You don’t go through the motions. Have I mellowed? Absolutely f***ing not! I’m still a square peg trying to fit into a round hole, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Donovan Roche is a longtime music writer and regular contributor to Times of San Diego.
