Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones’ memoir adapted for a limited TV series

*This session originally aired on February 20, 2017

Note: The audio version of this interview touches on sensitive topics, including Steve Jones’ experiences of drug addiction and sexual abuse.

Before he tied off the vein of rock ‘n’ roll and changed music forever with the Sex Pistols, Steve Jones was a young, sticky-fingered punk who stole everything from strangers’ cars to David Bowie‘s gear. By the time he found a home (and his future bandmates) among the freaks and misfits at Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood’s clothing shop, Let It Rock, he had spent years donning what he calls the “Steve Jones Cloak of Invisibility.” He says it was a metaphoric armor that helped him cope with the lingering trauma of his stepfather’s abuse.

Jones relates all those stories and more in his raw, honest and heartfelt new memoir, Lonely Boy: Tales From A Sex Pistol. Listen above as he details his path from childhood trauma to punk-rock infamy to heroin addiction to sobriety — and the music that got him through it all.

Hear the songs featured in the interview: