manuscripts soon to be sold at auction

The Sex Pistols are still worth gold! (©Instagram)

Handwritten lyrics to Sex Pistoles classics “Holidays in the Sun” and “Submission”, written by John Lydon, are to be sold at auction. They were written in green pen, on both sides of the same sheet of paper. Certain words and sentences have also been deleted. The experts also made a pencil addition, mentioning “a cheap holiday in other people’s misery”. The auction house, RR Auction, estimates that this document could be sold for $80,000, at the very least. It is notably accompanied by a certificate of authenticity, and a letter signed by journalist Jon Savage. The latter collected the document during his research for the writing of a work, entitled England’s Dreaming : Anarchy, Sex Pistols, Punk Rock, and Beyond. These lyrics were exhibited at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, from 1996 to 2000. In 2004, it was moved to the Hospital Exhibition in London, in 2004. The public was also able to access it, in 2005, during the Urbis PUNK: Sex, Seditionaries & the Sex Pistols exhibition, in Manchester.

A highly anticipated auction

These handwritten lyrics are the highlight of RR Auction’s Marvels of Modern Music auction, which includes more than 400 items. Among the other items present, fans will be able to discover a copy of “With The Beatles”, signed by the four members of the group, estimated at more than $50,000. Also featured is Prince’s blue Cloud guitar, a 1963 Beatles program for Winter Gardens, signed by the entire band, and a signed copy of Prince’s “A Night at the Opera” album. Queen. Something to delight as many people as possible. However, there is no need to waste time, as the auction will end this November 21. Hopefully this allows the Sex Pistols to find common ground. And for good reason, the group has not made any public appearance since the end of their European tour in 2008. In addition, relations between Lydon and his comrades continue to deteriorate. In 2021, the latter would have even sued them, for having used their music in the mini-series Pistolbroadcast on Amazon Prime and based on the memoirs of guitarist Steve Jones. So, in early 2024, Jones, Paul Cook and Glen Matlock began performing across England, alongside singer Franck Carter, under the name “Franck Carter and Sex Pistols”. For his part, John Lydon will go on tour again in the summer of 2025 with his group Public Image Limited.