Never mind the bollocks, here’s the release date for Danny Boyle’s Sex Pistols series

When people think of the Sex Pistols, one name comes to mind: Steve Jones.

Oh, did you think we were talking about Johnny Rotten? Sid Vicous? Malcolm McLaren? Well, Jones wrote some of the best riffs in rock ‘n roll history and the memoir ‌ Lonely Boy: Tales from a Sex Pistol, which is the basis for FX’s Pistol, an upcoming limited series about the band. Don’t worry, though. Those other guys will be in the show too.

Pistol is a six-part series directed by Academy Award-winner Danny Boyle. “This is the moment that British society and culture changed forever,” the director said in a statement. “It is the detonation point for British street culture…where ordinary young people had the stage and vented their fury and their fashion…and everyone had to watch and listen…and everyone feared them or followed them. The Sex Pistols. At its center was a young charming illiterate kleptomaniac — a hero for the times — Steve Jones, who became in his own words, the 94th greatest guitarist of all time. This is how he got there.”

Of course, not everyone (read: John Lydon) is happy about the show. Lydon called the series “the most disrespectful shit I’ve ever had to endure,” which is the best advertising for a series about the Sex Pistols one could hope for. For his part, Lydon also unsuccessfully sued over the usage of the band’s music, and that was presumably before he saw that publicity photo of the Pistols shown above. However, Jones and fellow bandmate Paul Cook said that their old singer “sold his rights to control the use of these songs in the 1990s in return for money.”

“The majority rule agreement existed as a result — so no outside party could dictate the use of the band’s music. And to have a mechanism in place if one member was unfairly blocking the decision making process — which is what happened in this instance.”

Lydon didn’t take the decision lying down. Instead, he did what anyone would do in this situation, he posted.

“I am the lead singer and songwriter, front man, image, the lot, you name it,” Lydon wrote on his website. “I put it there. How is that not relevant? It is dumbfounding to me. It is so destructive to what the band is and so I fear that the whole project might be extremely negative. How can anyone think that this can proceed without consulting me and deal with my personal life in this, and my issues in this, without any meaningful contact with me before the project is announced to the world.”

Pistol stars Toby Wallace as Steve Jones, Anson Boon as John Lydon, Christian Lees as Glen Matlock, Louis Partridge as Sid Vicious, Jacob Slater as Paul Cook, Sydney Chandler as Chrissie Hynde, Talulah Riley as Vivienne Westwood, Maisie Williams as punk icon Jordan, Emma Appleton as Nancy Spungen and Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Malcolm McLaren.

The series hits Hulu on Tuesday, May 31, so you’ll be able to finally see The Sex Pistols without worrying about getting spit on.