Punk legend John Lydon lashed out at Sting by calling him a "soggy old dead carcass" and an "old fart". Lydon, no spring chicken himself, complained that listening to Sting squeak through Roxanne was like letting air out of a balloon. Celebrity feuds carried out in the public arena are often entertaining, but no one pulls them off as well as the Brits. The rather corpse-like Lydon also grumbled about Amy Winehouse and Pete Doherty. "There's no much going on in their head...They obviously don't like what they're doing and that's why you turn to drugs." Sounds like the Punk Rock legend has turned into a grumpy old man. Medium: ink on paper, digital color.
you people are cruel beyond reason. Sting has a focus that has given the world some of the greatest songs ever written. The Police were a force to be reckoned with in the late 70's and early 80's and everyone loved them, including most of you if you are even old enough to remember.
you sit at your PC and mock him for his rumored BO, his wife's indiscretion of speech concerning their sex life, and the number children the man has sired. Sting is still in the guinness book of world records for his fund raising activism being the most successful charitable effort in history. what have you done? what has your favorite artist accomplished.
johnny rotten and his whole crew played a necessary role in their time but those days are over. a flash in the pan that was well short lived. all he can do now is berate others and their talents and success.
as a true blue Police fan i saw two shows on this reunion tour and i had a problem with the fact that Sting insisted on playing his fretted fender jazz bass with his fingers, giving a warm and chunky sound to songs that were originally written on a fretless precision bass with a phaser pedal, giving that crisp spooky sound rich in mids and highs. this compounded with slowing the songs down and lowering their key to compensate for an aging Sting's deeper voice and perhaps Stewart's lessened endurance, made the experience different than the first time around but no less enjoyable and relevant. I danced and sang with Elvis Costello, Fiction Plance, and The Police alike and just as before, left the show drenched in sweat and charged up.
the whole world has been begging for this tour for 25 years now and we got it and i for one am grateful. I don't know what anyone could gain by pacing the floor boards, white knuckled with tension, hating on this man.
fuck john lydon. anyone who cannot appreciate virtuoso talent such as Sting speaks only of their own insecurities and self remorse projected upon others. "I could be wrong, i could be right."
Posted by: Chance Kirkpatrick | August 14, 2008 at 10:37 AM
John is right. Hail Lydon!
Posted by: Shrimpton Toesian | September 23, 2007 at 07:32 PM
Where is my beloved Jeff Polage?
With all this Britney stuff he could be doing.... crotch shots, barefoot public toilet runs,etc.......
It's been a while, my heart aches for him.
Posted by: RedHotShellyPepper | September 23, 2007 at 01:00 PM
Mr. Rotten or is it Lydon actually can be a sport. I was at an L.A. club called the Lhasa in the early 80's bitching to a friend next to me about Johnnies perfomance the night before and didn't realize Johnny was sitting next to me. He said nothing rude back and I learned not to speak so openly (err, except on 14's site).
Regarding Sting's performance. Wished they didn't market the hell out that concert to start with (what a mess just to purchase a ticket, we still receive "fan emails"-yuck). Impressed that anyone their age can run around on stage, sing (well or not) at their age. I did see them back in the day many times, there's a difference now but what else would you expect.
Cheers on your Sting/Stink portrait (I do think that even Sting would enjoy it).
Posted by: Ann | September 23, 2007 at 11:45 AM
Just laughing out loud ! TOO MUCH. Way to go 14
Posted by: idlewild | September 23, 2007 at 07:56 AM
Having just read Lydon's biography, I have to agree with Charlene: the man has been grumpy ever since childhood. He's turned being cranky into high art. And I have to admit I kinda love him for it.
Posted by: Vermona | September 22, 2007 at 05:20 AM
Love it! Sting has been a pompous fool for a long time, having oodles of kids while lecturing others about having smaller families so that they don't impact the environment. You'd never call Johnny Lydon (my hero) a grumpy old man if you'd read his autobiography, he just tells it like it is without sugar coating anything, refreshing honesty, something Sting knows nothing about.
Posted by: Bitter Jealous Fatties | September 22, 2007 at 05:16 AM
John Lydon, where is he now? WHO is he now? That ass is long forgotten. He's alive too?
Posted by: torch | September 22, 2007 at 12:15 AM
Well, Johnny Rotten and whats let of the boys are going on tour and need some exposure. ALL FOR IT; I LOVE THE GUYS! Do WHATEVER!
Posted by: Sassy | September 21, 2007 at 10:56 PM
Deanna1104: I know, I know, the picture is wrong. Whenever I read, each word explodes into a vivid visual interpretation. It doesn't matter if I'm reading the latest Britney scandal in US magazine, Lady Chatterley's Lover, or the back of a cereal box - each word weaves itself into a spendid visual tapestry. So, that being said, when my eyes glanced over the words "soggy old dead carcass", this is what I saw. Actually, I saw much worse, but chose to dial it down several notches.
Viper: Please write me a haiku about Carrot Top. In return, I'll illustrate it.
Gorilla at Large: It is my unwavering belief that I don't knock anyone appearing on this blog, I simply observe and record the gossip. I could be delusional though.
Stop at 2: Agreed.
Demon Kitty: Get back to studying for your economics test.
just wonderin: oh you HAD to bring up Sting and his tantric sex thing. Tantric sex: very good. Sting associated with tantric sex: very bad.
thanks for your comments everyone. xoxo 14
Posted by: 14 | September 21, 2007 at 09:07 PM
Meow! Viper Tetsu,
oh crap- you had me at "Jesus in a sourdough bread bowl" and me with celiac disease no less! But then, you had to add "Pompous-not relevant" and well, I just have to add psuedo-environmental piece of hypocritcal celebrity garbage. And I'm trying not to think about his tantric sex thing because, ok, I'm not above some mild curiousity, but it's just ugly and it frightens the children, so please make it stop....
Posted by: just wonderin | September 21, 2007 at 07:10 PM
that picture is sooo wrong. that aint right. does sting look like he fathered the olsen twins with courtney love or is it just me?
Posted by: deanna1104 | September 21, 2007 at 06:58 PM
Sting and Madonna have something in common - legendary body odor. I used to love the Police.
Posted by: Demon Kitty | September 21, 2007 at 06:52 PM
Oh yeah, Sting, who wants to save the rainforests. An environmentalist with SIX FUCKING CHILDREN. So basically, little dark people? Don't be cutting down trees. Save the rainforests for white children of Sting.
Posted by: Stop at 2 | September 21, 2007 at 06:39 PM
Haha. Yes PLEASE do that egotistical bono person
Posted by: HeyWhatsUp | September 21, 2007 at 04:51 PM
Hey, 14, don't knock Johnny Rotten. Have you heard "Flowers of Romance"? It is awesome. He has more than earned the right to trash Sting, who is nothing but a bunch of world-music cliches -- I just wonder why he bothers.
By the way, I live in a beach community where Sting owns a house. I take jogs past it but I'm not sure which one it is, I only know the block. Maybe it's the one with the ginormous wine cellar?
Posted by: Gorilla_At_Large | September 21, 2007 at 03:50 PM
Jesus in a sourdough bread bowl,I can't stop laughing. My co-workers think I've got some major asthma attack going. Really.
It captures Mr. Pompous-Not-Relevant-since-Reagan-was-president-totally-sold-out-to-the-Dentist-Jazz-devil-eons-ago-Man and his gassy-grandpa musical output over the last godknowshowmany years with such incisive magnificence, it gives me faith that there is, in fact, a God.
Lydon's a crabby ol' turd hisself, but on the topic of Stung he's spot-on.
Posted by: Viper Tetsu | September 21, 2007 at 03:43 PM
And here I thought Sting was aging gracefully. John Lydon, on the other hand, NEVER looked good.
Seeing pictures of Sting, even done in a rotting-corpse style, always remind me of my outrage at the casting of Keanu Reeves as John Constantine in "Constantine." JC in early "Hellblazer" issues is a dead ringer for Sting, and there's even a scene where JC is rowing a boat named "The Honorable (?) Gordon Sumner."
Just scrolled up and looked at the picture again. Gah, I'm going to see that in my nightmares.
Posted by: Noelegy | September 21, 2007 at 03:38 PM
That's NOT!
Posted by: just wonderin | September 21, 2007 at 11:31 AM
Great pic of sting!! please do bono one of these days!
and lydon "turning into" a grumpy old man? please ... this is the guy who said,"his gut hung over rock and roll like a shadow" the day after elvis died.
letting air out of a balloon? i love it!
thanks 14, for a lovely friday morning treat.
Posted by: Knox Bronson | September 21, 2007 at 11:22 AM
The truth hurts everybody...
Posted by: Charlene | September 21, 2007 at 11:05 AM
Love your treatments of musical giants....Sting's skinny yoga/I consort with whores but my wife does too so it's okay physique has always freaked me out. And word on the street from his fellow stage performers is that he has supernaturally awful BO. Perhaps his BO, which no doubt has acquired its own ID card, not to mention a personality by this point, would be a good subject for a drawing?
You rock, Sting doesn't, and Bob Geldorf may indeed be Satan (after all what evidence do we have to prove otherwise? In this day and age you're guilty until proven innocent, so let's get with the times, I say.)
Grumpy Carcass
Posted by: GrumpyDay | September 21, 2007 at 10:28 AM