John Lydon lost part of his vinyl collection in kitchen blaze after insurance was cancelled, as he shares unusual collections

John Lydon has revealed that he lost part of his vinyl collection in a kitchen blaze at his home after his house insurance was cancelled.

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The former Sex Pistols frontman revealed that his late wife, Nora Forster, accidentally set their kitchen on fire. After a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease, Nora died in 2023. Lydon had been Nora’s full-time carer up until her passing.

The PiL frontman also previously wrote a song ‘Hawaii’ which he called a “love letter” to his wife and attempted to represent Ireland at the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest with the song, but didn’t make it through the initial round.

Despite this, Lydon said he didn’t regret entering the competition as it helped raise awareness for Alzheimer’s disease.

Speaking to This Is Money about the fire, Lydon explained that he lost other collections of his in the fire too, including some toy and tin collections.

He told the publication: “I have a collection of London double-decker toy buses. They’re just biscuit tins, but I really like them. I hate the shortbread inside, and I wish it was toffees or sweeties.

“In London, I had a collection of the Coronation tins [celebrating the 1952 coronation of Queen Elizabeth II], but they got destroyed when Nora accidentally set fire to the kitchen after cancelling the insurance.

“Lots of my records melted in the blaze, but I still have loads over there. Hopefully, I’ll raise enough money on my upcoming tour to get them sent over.”

Earlier this year, the former Pistols frontman criticised the reunion with Frank Carter branding it “karaoke” to NME.

In a new interview with PA (via The Independent), when asked if he would reunite with the band, Lydon said: “Never, not after what I consider their dirty deeds, let them wallow in Walt Disney woke expectations. They’ve killed the content, or done their best to, and turned the whole thing into a rubbish, childishness, and that’s unacceptable.”

He added: “Sorry, I’m not going to give a helping hand to this any longer, as far as I am concerned, I am the Pistols, and they’re not.”

The singer-songwriter previously fought a high-profile court battle against guitarist Steve Jones and drummer Paul Cook in a bid to stop their songs being used in a 2022 Disney+ series of their story, Pistol, which was directed by Danny Boyle. Lydon eventually lost the case.

On the Sex Pistols’ current line-up, he added: “They had to get Billy Idol last year and now Mr Carter, to come in and listen to them (his lyrics) for them, that’s a clown’s circus at work.”

He made similar comments to NME earlier this year when asked whether he had had a chance to see footage of the band performing live. “No, but Mr Carter has to follow in Billy Idol’s footsteps, doesn’t he?,” he said at the time. “Poor Billy! I saw some clips on YouTube and he’s gasping for air – he can’t sing my songs! [Laughs] ‘No Feelings’ is the great separator.”

The Pistols, who last performed with Lydon in 2008, headed out on a UK comeback tour last autumn, with Carter stepping in as frontman. This followed two intimate gigs at London’s Bush Hall, where they played ‘Never Mind The Bollocks’ in full.

They have since announced further live appearances for 2025, including Download Festival and the Teenage Cancer Trust series at London’s Royal Albert Hall. Additionally, guitarist Jones told NME that Sex Pistols would be hitting the road in the US.

Last week (April 2), Lydon hit out at the Sex Pistols’ reunion once again, saying he will never rejoin the band.

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