The Sex Pistols Dropping BANNED Song Ahead of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee

Sex Pistols
Pete Still / Contributor

A new edition of the song "God Save The Queen" is being released in honor of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

A new version of the anti-establishment band's 1977 song, which was produced to coincide with the Queen's Silver Jubilee festivities, is set to be published later this month, when Queen Elizabeth will mark 70 years on the throne.

The punk rock hit was notably banned by the BBC, and it came close to reaching the top of the Official United Kingdom Chart.

It was the first time in the history of the charts that the song's title was refused to be listed, and many record retailers refused to carry it.

Additionally, their record label, A+M, destroyed 25,000 copies of the album, leaving only a handful of copies in existence.

Fans of John Lydon's band will be able to order one of the 1,977 copies of the relaunched A+M edition starting on May 27.

Following their signing with Virgin, the 'Pretty Vacant' rockers will release a re-release of their album, which will be limited to 4,000 copies.

Both editions include the original artwork, with the A+M edition including a generic business cover and a silver/platinum vinyl pressing, while the other features a silver/platinum vinyl pressing. The artwork for the Virgin single was designed by Jamie Reid.

These are reflected in the B sides, which include the A+M single "No Feeling" as well as the Virgin single "Did You No Wrong."

Additionally, a new Sex Pistols compilation with 20 tracks will be released as a companion to Disney+'s 'Pistol' series.

ALSO READ: Olivia Rodrigo New Album: 'Sour' Follow-up in the Works, Vanessa Hudgens Finds Out

Twenty of their 1976-1978 tunes are being reissued on 'The Sex Pistols: The Original Recordings' for the first time in more than two decades in celebration of Danny Boyle's six-episode limited series, which will premiere on the streaming service in late March.

On the CD, you'll find the chart-topping songs 'God Save The Queen,' 'Anarchy in the United Kingdom,' "Pretty Vacant," and "Holidays In The Sun," which were all taken from the band's seminal 1977 album "Never Mind The B*******."

Additionally, the compilation includes covers from the Pistols' post-split documentary 'The Great Rock and Roll Swindle,' which was released in 1980.

Also included are a number of B-sides, including 'I Wanna Be Me' (the flipside to 'Anarchy...'), 'Satellite' (the b-side to 'Holidays In The Sun,') and 'Did You Do Anything Wrong' (from the film 'God Save The Queen') among others.

Limited edition double translucent green vinyl and yellow vinyl, as well as collectors' cassettes, will be available for purchase with the collection on double vinyl, digital download, and CD, among other formats.

Pistol is a dramatization of guitarist Steve Jones' 2017 biography 'Lonely Boy: Tales from a Sex Pistol,' which was released in theaters this month.

In addition to Toby Wallace portraying Steve Jones, Jacob Slater is Paul Cook's drummer, Anson Boon is John Lydon's frontman, Christian Lees is Glen Matlock's bassist, and Louis Partridge is the late Sid Vicious' bassist, among others.

The compilation will be released on May 27, while the television series 'Pistol' will launch on Disney+ and Hulu on May 31.

Join the Discussion
Real Time Analytics