Sex Pistols Decline to Perform at London Olympics Closing Ceremony

Never mind the Olympics. Punk legends The Sex Pistols have declined an invitation to perform at the London Games’ closing ceremony.

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John Lydon, former frontman of the Sex Pistols, has refused to play the London Olympics closing ceremony

Britain’s legendary punk outfit The Sex Pistols is reportedly just as rebellious after all these years. According to the Guardian, the band said a curt “no thanks” to London Olympics organizers who asked them to participate in a commemorative closing ceremony.

Spokespeople for the surviving Sex Pistols, who are led by frontman John Lydon (the erstwhile Johnny Rotten), have refused to comment, possibly supporting the Telegraph’s claim that this is a “snub to the establishment.”

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The closing ceremony, called “Symphony of British Music,” celebrates 50 years of U.K. pop. The show, described by its choreographer as an “elegant mash-up of British music,” is to take place on August 12, and will flaunt Britain’s pop-culture heritage in front of a global Olympics audience. Notables like Adele, Sir Elton John, the Rolling Stones and the Spice Girls have signed on.

Perhaps it is inevitable that Lydon and his band have passed on the opportunity to perform in the conspicuously patriotic year of the London Olympics and the Diamond Jubilee, as they generally say “never mind” (among other phrases) to the establishment. Their 1977 hit God Save the Queen encapsulated their hatred of the monarchy — or as they say, the “fascist regime.”

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