Coming from a difficult home life, and uninterested in school, Steve Jones found himself drifting into petty crime as a teenager. While bunking off school in 1972 he decided to form a band with friends Paul Cook and Wally Nightingale. Steve was already something of a kleptomaniac, and music gave him a way to channel some of his over-exuberance. Musical equipment specifically. Legend has it Steve paid many famous rock stars a visit as the fledgling band began to acquire equipment. It’s perhaps fate that someone who has inspired so many guitar players – and helped define the Gibson Les Paul guitar sound – actually started off as a singer before moving to the instrument after Wally’s departure. After the Sex Pistols split in January 1978 Steve – together with Paul Cook – went on to release a series of Sex Pistols singles without John Lydon for use in Malcolm McLaren’s fictionalised satire of the Pistols story ‘The Great Rock n Roll Swindle’. Steve appeared in the movie playing himself and contributed lead vocals to many of the tracks used on the soundtrack album.
