Throughout his career, former Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon (a.k.a. Johnny Rotten) has shown that he’s not fond of too many celebrities. This could, at least in part, be chalked up to him having bad interactions with a lot of the ones he’s encountered. For instance, Lydon once told Mojo magazine of a negative experience he’d had with Monty Python co-founder and Fawlty Towers star John Cleese at a charity event for Prince Charles. Cleese was supposedly confused by the “God Save the Queen” singer’s presence and asked, “What’s that sort of person doing here?”
Lydon said that while the incident didn’t affect his appreciation for Cleese’s work, he came away from the situation viewing the comedian as a snob. Understandably enough, though Cleese is but one of a large number of famous people Lydon had unfavorable things to say about over the years. That’s why when he does share a few complimentary words about somebody, you can’t help but take notice. It just so happens that, in this case, one of the few people he’s actually heaped praise on is also a famous comedian.
At an early point in his career, Lydon had the opportunity to see Robin Williams perform stand-up in New York City. Lydon was alone that night and initially didn’t feel like going out. He also—surprise, surprise—hated Williams’ hit sitcom at the time, Mork & Mindy. That said, I gave Williams a shot anyway and found the whole thing to be “utterly hilarious.” As a matter of fact, the impression the show left on him was so great that he continues to bring up his experience as an audience member 50 years later.
Lydon has referred to Williams as not just a “kindred spirit,” but a “kindred confusionist.” He loved his free-form style and the way he would jump from one situation to another. It made Lydon realize that he wasn’t the only one who, as he describes it, “babbles inside his head at 1,000 miles an hour, in 200 different directions.” Though he recognized the similarities between the two of them back then, Lydon felt that he was too shy to express himself as Williams did in his comedy act. He needed to release that energy through an outlet of his own. And that outlet, of course, would be the music we all know him for today.
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