Public Image Ltd, the post-punk band formed by John Lydon in the wake of the Sex Pistols’ demise, will compete to represent Ireland at this year’s Eurovision song contest.
Lydon was born in London to Irish parents and holds an Irish passport in addition to American citizenship. He previously told Vice magazine: “I view myself as British first and foremost. When my parents came over from Ireland they became intrinsically working-class English. [I’m] proper London working-class.”
The group, AKA PiL, have submitted the song Hawaii, a love letter to Lydon’s wife, Nora Forster, who lives with Alzheimer’s disease. The group described it as “a pensive, personal yet universal love song that will resonate with many”, and will perform it – alongside Ireland’s other Eurovision hopefuls – during the heat to determine the nation’s competitor on the Late Late Show on 3 February.
“It is dedicated to everyone going through tough times on the journey of life, with the person they care for the most,” Lydon said in a statement. “It’s also a message of hope that ultimately love conquers all.”
Hawaii is streaming now and will be released on limited edition 7-in vinyl later in the year.
The group, formed in 1978, are one of six contenders competing for Ireland, alongside County Donegal balladeer ADGY (AKA Andrew Carr), young Leitir Meailláin songwriter Connolly (AKA Jennifer Connolly), Dublin four-piece Wild Youth, Dublin indie-pop star Leila Jane and Longford rap duo K Muni and ND.
Ireland last qualified for the finals of Eurovision in 2018, when Ryan O’Shaughnessy finished in 16th place. However, with seven winners and 18 top-five placings, as of 2021 Ireland was the most successful country in the contest overall. If PiL qualify for the competition, they will join historic competitors such as 1980’s winner Johnny Logan, the three consecutive winners Linda Martin (1992), Niamh Kavanagh (1993) and Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan (1994), and X Factor finalists Jedward, who placed eighth in 2011, making them Ireland’s most successful entrants in a decade.
Lydon and Forster are thought to have married in the late 1970s and have lived in California since the early 1980s. In 2020, Lydon told the Observer that he had become his wife’s full-time carer as she lived with Alzheimer’s.
He told the newspaper that he would never put Forster into a home. “I don’t make commitments lightly and this is my Babbie,” he said, using his nickname for her. “When we decided to commit, that was it – it was going to be that way for ever.”
“She’s going through some traumas,” Lydon continued. “Bits of memories are fading, slowly but surely, and will probably all be gone eventually. But I’m making sure it’s a happy journey and not a sad one. She will never forget me, and I will never forget her, whatever else falls out of her earholes.”
Public Image Ltd is currently comprised of Lydon, drummer Bruce Smith, guitarist Lu Edmonds and bassist Scott Firth. Founding guitarist Keith Levene died in November 2022, having departed the band in 1983. The group’s last album was 2015’s What the World Needs Now, described by the Observer as “exhilaratingly fun”.
This year’s Eurovision song contest will take place in Liverpool on 13 May. After Ukraine’s Kalush Orchestra won the 2022 competition, organisers concluded that the country could not safely host the 2023 edition and that Britain, whose competitor Sam Ryder placed second, would take on the mantle. The BBC has said the programme will have “glorious Ukraine at its heart”.
