John Lydon had a very clear motivation to appear on two iterations of The Masked Singer. In an interview with This Morning, the Sex Pistols singer revealed what drew him to the show.
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Most recently, Lydon, dressed as a yak, appeared on The Masked Singer UK. He was unmasked on the show’s most recent episode after performing Olivia Newton-John’s “Physical” and Tom Jones’ “Sex Bomb.”
As for why he signed up for the show, Lydon explained, “Fun, firstly. Mostly, accurately, the money.”
Lydon revealed that he plans to use the money he made on the show to fund his band, Public Image Ltd., as they set out to record their next album.
“The money has now paid for us to go and record in Portugal for a solid month and a little holiday afterwards,” he shared.
Lydon’s Masked Singer UK appearance wasn’t his first experience on the series. Back in 2021, Lydon, dressed as jester, competed on the US version of the show.
John Lydon Discusses His First Masked Singer Appearance
“Oh, that’s a while back now, innit?” he remarked. “That was before the death of my lovely wife, so I did it for completely different reasons.”
Nora Foster, Lydon’s wife of nearly 50 years, died in April 2023 after a battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
“I wanted her to enjoy that and see if she could guess it was me before she died,” Lydon shared. “She totally went, ‘It’s you. Alzheimer’s or not, that’s you.’”
As for the stigma placed on the show, Lydon pays the naysayers no mind.
“Things like this, I know they’re viewed negatively by what they call serious musicians. Well, f the lot of them,” he said. “I’m up for a laugh. And things that, like, whole families can watch. I mean, that’s great fun.”
Now that his time on The Masked Singer UK has come to a close, Lydon is preparing for a busy time ahead, which will include touring and new music.
“For me, the next two and a half years is going to be permanent work,” he revealed. “I’m already a year into non-stop.”
Photo by FOX via Getty Images
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