Lonely Boy: Tales from a Sex Pistol (Soon to be a limited series directed by Danny Boyle) - Couverture souple

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Foreword by Chrissie Hynde

Without the Sex Pistols there would be no Punk. And without Steve Jones there would be no Sex Pistols. It was Steve who formed Kutie Jones and his Sex Pistols, the band that eventually went on to become the Sex Pistols, with his schoolmate Paul Cook and who was its original leader. As the world celebrates the 40th anniversary of Punk – the influence and cultural significance of which is felt in music, fashion and the visual arts to this day – Steve tells his story for the very first time.

Steve’s modern Dickensian tale begins in the streets of Hammersmith and Shepherd’s Bush, West London, where as a lonely, neglected boy living off his wits and petty thievery he is given purpose by the glam art rock of David Bowie and Roxy Music and becomes one of the first generation of ragamuffin punks taken under the wings of Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood. For the very first time Steve describes the sadness of never having known his dad, the neglect and abuse he suffered at the hands of his step father, and how his interest in music and fashion saved him from a potential life of crime spent in remand centres and prison. From the Kings Road of the early seventies, through the years of the Sex Pistols, Punk Rock and the recording of Never Mind the Bollocks (ranked number 41 in Rolling Stone magazine’s Best Albums of All Time), to his self-imposed exile in New York and Los Angeles where he battled with alcohol, heroin and sex addiction – caught in a cycle of rehab and relapse – Lonely Boy, written with music journalist and author Ben Thompson, is the story of an unlikely guitar hero who, with the Sex Pistols, changed history.

"Lonely Boy is often eye-wateringly funny ... Jones is good at puncturing myth ... His book’s a delight." (Observer, 'Music Book of the Day')

"The Sex Pistols guitarist details his life – an impoverished Sixties childhood, sexual abuse and dalliances with crime – in a way that is both moving and candid." (Telegraph, 'Top 50 Books of the Year')

"The Pistols’ story, retold refreshingly and with added rumpage ... What’s special about this book is its story arc, which will make the most hardened punk well up ... A poignant, honest, drily humorous rump-fest from a lost soul found." (Mojo)

"[An] absolute riot of revelation...[Jones] owns up to his failings with a colourful candour that is moving." (Neil McCormick Telegraph)

"It can be harrowing, hilarious, and often touching, but above all, Lonely Boy is life-affirming. Thank you, Steve Jones." (Sex-pistols.net)