Sex Pistols classic ‘God Save The Queen’ to get jubilee revival

LONDON: Sex Pistols’ punk-rock classic “God Save The Queen” is to get another airing to mark Queen Elizabeth II’s upcoming Platinum Jubilee, 45 years after it first scandalised the pop charts.

The anti-royalist anthem, whose acerbic lyrics were written by front man Johnny Rotten, was released in 1977 as the queen celebrated her silver jubilee for 25 years on the throne.

The lyrics famously reference the queen’s “fascist regime”, while declaring that the monarch “ain’t no human being”, leading it to be banned from BBC radio and television.

But that only added to its notoriety, helping it to hit number two in the charts, although many punk fans still believe it was deliberately kept from the top spot, which went to Rod Stewart instead. Thousands of physical copies of the song are to be re-pressed for release on May 27, including both the version released on Virgin Records and that released by A&M Records.