John Lydon Reveals the Fate of the Lost Sex Pistols Reunion Album

New music periodically seemed like a possibility during the Sex Pistols' sporadic reunions throughout the '90s and '00s, but it never materialized -- and in a new interview, singer John Lydon has offered his version of why.

According to Lydon, the band reunited with Chris Thomas, co-producer of their landmark 1977 album 'Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols,' and recorded an entire album's worth of new material; problem was, they did it without Lydon. "[They] laid down some basic tracks without involving me at all, and then presented this cassette, not to my face, but snuck it under the bloody hotel door," he claimed during a discussion with the Independent. "To this day, I'm very bitter about that."

And as he went on to make pointedly clear, Lydon's resentment had nothing to do with not being invited to the party; as far as he's concerned, the material simply wasn't up to snuff. "Those new tracks were hideously dull. 'Go on, put the money-earner on this dross.' It was always that cold indifference to the lead singer," he added. "You can't end up just imitating yourselves, that's preposterous to me."

Of course, that isn't to say that Lydon's above making decisions for the money, as he did when he signed on for his much-derided stint as a butter spokesperson -- and he makes no apologies for that, either. "Are oiks like me not supposed to make a living? I don't remember writing a contract saying I must not advertise. And, by the way, I do eat butter," he insisted. "You've only got to look at me in the nude to see that."