10 Times Musicians Owned Interviewers

On the 1 December, 1976 Queen were due to appear on the Bill Grundy talk show Today, but ended up pulling out at the last minute. You can imagine Bill Grundy's delight then when instead of interviewing the mild-mannered and charming Freddie Mercury, he was faced with the ever cheeky Johnny Rotten, joined by the rambunctious Sex Pistols.

Today we might not be shocked at our rock stars using profanity, but this particular show was aired back in the mid-'70s, in the early evening when the use of such colourful language was not permitted under any circumstances.

Grundy clearly had contempt for the band, and accused them of not sticking to their punk sensibilities by accepting money to record an album, not a particularly savvy way to open up a conversation with a bunch of punks... But, it was Steve Jones and not Johnny Rotten who stole the show in this particular interview.

Rotten displayed his usual naughty-school-boy characteristics and let slip an inadvertent sh*t, which Grundy picked up on, before turning his attention to a female member of the group's entourage with a somewhat sleazy manor. That's when Steve Jones, who has admitted to being drunk by the time the interview started, had, had enough, and began bombarding Grundy with a string of profanities.

Bill Grundy was suspended after this famous television appearance and it has remained one of the most defining and infamous incidents that led to the Pistols' reputation.