Lonely Boy
  • Published: 17 November 2016
  • ISBN: 9781473535930
  • Imprint: Cornerstone Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 320

Lonely Boy

Tales from a Sex Pistol (Soon to be a limited series directed by Danny Boyle)

Formats & editions
EBook
17 Nov 2016
Paperback
15 Oct 2017
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The true untold story of the Sex Pistols from the man who formed the band and kick-started the cultural revolution that was Punk.

NOW A LIMITED SERIES DIRECTED BY DANNY BOYLE
_____________________

Foreword by Chrissie Hynde

Without the Sex Pistols there would be no punk rock, 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.

Rising from the streets of Hammersmith, Steve Jones was once a lonely, neglected boy living off his wits and petty thievery. Given purpose by the glam art rock of David Bowie and Roxy Music, he became one of the first generation of punks taken under the wings of Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood. For the very first time Steve describes the neglect and abuse he suffered at the hands of his stepfather, and how his interest in music and fashion saved him from a potential life of crime.

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.
  • Published: 17 November 2016
  • ISBN: 9781473535930
  • Imprint: Cornerstone Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 320
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About the author

Steve Jones

Jones is Professor of Genetics at University College London and has worked at universities in the USA, Australia and Africa. He gave the BBC Reith Lectures in 1991, and presented a successful BBC TV series on human genetics and evolution in 1996. He is a regular columnist for the Daily Telegraph and frequently appears on radio and television. His previous books include The Language of the Genes (which won the 1994 Rhône-Poulenc Science Book Prize) and In the Blood (shortlisted for the 1997 Rhône-Poulenc). He won the 1997 Royal Society Faraday Medal for the Public Understanding of Science.

portrait photo of Steve Jones

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Praise for Lonely Boy

Lonely Boy is often eye-wateringly funny … Jones is good at puncturing myth … His book’s a delight.

Observer, 'Music Book of the Day'

It can be harrowing, hilarious, and often touching, but above all, Lonely Boy is life-affirming. Thank you, Steve Jones.

Sex-pistols.net

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

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'

[An] absolute riot of revelation…[Jones] owns up to his failings with a colourful candour that is moving.

Neil McCormick, Telegraph

[A] bloody good story … Though ghosted, Steve Jones’ own voice speaks loud and clear throughout Lonely Boy, a brutally honest … and level-headed memoir.

Record Collector

Raucously funny.

Uncut

A classic tale made fresh.

Ransom Note

Lonely Boy is unique amongst rock star memoirs: Jones is the real deal.

Esquire

Gem.

The Spectator

Frank and engaging.

The Beat

Perhaps I've been biased by a forty-year devotion to the Pistols, but having just turned its final page, Lonely Boy only seems like the best book since The Bible.

Classic Rock

An enthralling, engaging human story: harrowing, hilarious and often touching, but above all, life-affirming.

Vive Le Rock

Eminently readable.

TeamRock

One of the best autobiographies I have ever read

On: Yorkshire Magazine

This first-hand account from the band’s guitarist captures the significance of the band through his own eyes, but also delves deep into his difficult childhood. Jones is a one-off: hilarious, eccentric, painfully honest and 100% Lahndahn.

TeamRock
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