Former Sex Pistols’ frontman John Lydon has failed in his bid to represent Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest.
His band Public Image Ltd (PiL), the post-punk band formed by Lydon following the break-up of the Sex Pistols, finished fourth out of six acts in Ireland’s Eurosong competition to select its entry to this year’s contest.
They were beaten by rock band Wild Youth’s song We Are One who will compete at the contest in Liverpool in May.
The result was decided in three parts – a public vote, a national jury and an international jury.
PiL’s entry was an emotional ballad called Hawaii, which he described as a love letter to his wife Nora, who is living with Alzheimer’s disease.
In the song, Lydon, formerly known as Johnny Rotten, reflects on their happiest moments over their 40-year marriage including their time in Hawaii.
Before the contest, he said: “It means the world to me, this is our last few years of coherence together. And I miss her like mad.
“I miss my missus, if you keep voting for me I’m going to miss her even more.”
Read more: When is the song contest, who’s hosting and when can I get tickets?
He said he was still “terrified of mugging it up, getting it wrong, letting people down – mostly letting Nora down”.
He spoke fondly of watching Eurovision as a child, saying: “This is something that I watched when I was young with my parents. I remember Johnny Logan, I remember Cliff Richard, I remember Sandy Shaw.
“It’s as good as any other way of listening to music, I don’t have any prejudices about things like that.”
He added that he chose Ireland “because I’m as much Irish as anybody else by blood”.
Read more: Eurovision announces viewers across the rest of the world can vote in next year’s contest
PiL was formed in the late 1970s and has scored five UK top 20 albums.
The band is also planning to release a new album in 2023 – their first since 2015.
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The UK is yet to announce details of potential entrants to Eurovision.
Liverpool is the host city for this year’s contest after organisers said it would be unsafe to host the competition in Ukraine after Kalush Orchestra’s 2022 win.
Since the UK’s Sam Ryder finished second last, the BBC stepped in to host the contest instead.
