Entertainers Who Turned Down Major Awards

Johnny Rotten Faxed A Nasty Note Rejecting The Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall Of Fame

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The year was 2006, and Johnny Rotten, the lead singer of the Sex Pistols, was apparently behind the times. No, he definitely didn’t have a smartphone. The dude didn’t even send an e-mail through a Blackberry (the era’s staple for middle-aged businessmen slow to early tech adoption). Rotten was still using a fax machine, and that’s exactly how he told the Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall of Fame that he refused to receive a trophy at their induction ceremony.

The nearly illegible note read, “Next to the SEX-PISTOLS rock and roll and that hall of fame is a [expletive] stain. Your museum. Urine in wine. Were not coming. Were not your monkey and so what?” Okay.