Iconic post-punk act head Rebellion bill

Celebrating their 40th anniversary, John Lydon’s Public Image Ltd (PiL) will be heading to the weekend event at the Winter Gardens for the first time since 2012, playing on Sunday, August 5.

The band formed on the back of the Sex Pistols’ demise in 1978, and continue to make fresh punk sounds today.

A spokesman for the festival said: “It’s hard to name a more iconic and influential post-punk band on modern music than John Lydon’s post-Pistols group Public Image Limited (PiL).

“Since their formation following the Sex Pistols collapse in 1978, Public Image Limited have crafted some of the most forward thinking sounds to emerge from the post-punk wreckage and continue to do so to this day.

“Their set is guaranteed to thrill and inspire and it’s an honour to have them back.”

The band’s last tour was in 2016 – and regarded by many as the best performances the band have ever played, following on from their 10th studio album release in 2015, the self-funded What The World Needs Now.

PiL’s original run, from 1978 debut First Issue to 1992’s That What Is Not, earned them five UK top 20 singles and five UK top 20 albums, and after a 17-year hiatus, Lydon reactivated PiL in 2009 by taking them back on the road worldwide.

The current line-up – the longest stable line-up in PiL history – is John Lydon, Lu Edmonds, Scott Firth and Bruce Smith.