Queen’s Diamond Jubilee: Sex Pistols to release anti-monarchy anthem for Queen’s Diamond Jubilee

It will be an unexpected and perhaps unwelcome musical accompaniment to the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

The Sex Pistols, the punk rock band famous for their anti-establishment antics, are to re-release their classic anthem God Save the Queen to coincide with the jubilee celebrations this summer.

The song, widely regarded as an attack on the monarchy with lyrics equating the Queen with a “fascist regime”, is expected to be released in the final week of May, in a bid to top the charts over the Diamond Jubilee weekend at the beginning of June.

Originally released on May 27 1977, ahead of the Queen’s Silver Jubilee, the single, which featured a defaced image of the Queen on the cover, sparked widespread controversy and was banned by the BBC and the Independent Broadcasting Authority which regulated commercial television and radio and independent radio.

Speculation has persisted that God Save the Queen was the biggest-selling single at the time but was kept off the number one spot to avoid offending the Queen.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/the_queens_diamond_jubilee/9204541/Queens-Diamond-Jubilee-Sex-Pistols-to-release-anti-monarchy-anthem-for-Queens-Diamond-Jubilee.html