John Lydon brings tour to Ireland, including dates in Cork and Galway

John Lydon performing on the Late Late Show's Eurosong Special last year.

John Lydon has announced additional Irish dates for his 2025 tour, including a show in Cork next September.

The former Sex Pistol, also known as Johnny Rotten, brings his I Could Be Wrong, I Could Be Right Q&A tour to a number of venues throughout Ireland and the UK next year.

The spoken-word tour involves Lydon discussing his life and musical output, including those heady days with the Pistols. 

The tour was originally set to kick off in Dundalk’s An Tain Arts Centre on September 11, 2025, but will now begin a week earlier in Armagh’s Marketplace on September 4 as a result of the announcement. From there, Lydon will head to Belfast’s Mandela Hall, Coleraine’s Riverside and Derry’s Millenium Forum.

His previously planned shows in Ireland include the Town Hall Arts Centre in Cavan, Balor Arts Centre in Ballybofey and the Complex in Dublin.

Newly added dates include the Black Box in Galway on September 15 and Watergate in Kilkenny on September 16 before Johnny Rotten wraps up the Irish leg of his tour in the Cork Opera House on September 17.

The tour then heads east to the UK, starting in Leeds.

The Londoner is the son of Irish parents, Jimmy, from Galway and Eileen, from Carrigrohane near Ballincollig in Cork. He has previously spoken about his connections to Cork, telling this paper in 2022 he remembers the Examiner, before adding the family cottage “never bothered with floorboards, it was covered in newspaper and dirt.

In 2023, Lydon was a contestant on RTE's Eurosong, with hopes of making it to the Eurovision, but lost to Wild Youth. 

Tickets for the new dates go on sale tomorrow at 10 from johnlydon.com, with some tickets still available for the existing shows.