Public Image Ltd. (PiL) is a rock music band formed in 1978 by John Lydon, also known as Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols. PiL is often cited as one of the most challenging and innovative bands of the post punk period.
Following the Sex Pistols' breakup, Lydon took a three-week trip to Jamaica with Virgin Records head Richard Branson, in which Lydon helped scout for new reggae artists.
After this vacation, Lydon approached Jah Wobble (né John Wardle) to start a new band. The pairing seemed natural: they had been friends since the early 1970s, and had casually played music together during the last days of the Sex Pistols. Furthermore, they were both avid fans of reggae, and of what would later be called world music. Lydon assumed, much as with his friend Sid Vicious - the Sex Pistols' mid-career replacement for original bassist Glen Matlock - that Wobble could learn to play bass guitar as he went. While that had proven a fatal assumption with Vicious (Lydon cites his inability to learn his instrument as a prime reason for the Pistols' breakup), Wobble would prove to be a natural talent. Lydon also launched an effort to locate guitarist Keith Levene (né Julian Levene), whom he had met on tour in mid- 1976 while Levene was a member of The Clash. Lydon and Levene had both considered themselves outsiders even within their own bands. After Levene heard of the invitation, he quickly signed on. The original drummer was Jim Walker (né Donat Walker) - a Canadian student newly arrived in the UK - who answered an ad in a weekly music magazine.
PiL debuted with "Public Image," a single not far from Sex Pistols territory. The single sold well enough to reach number 9 in the UK charts, and surprisingly well as an import in the US, where the mainstream rock culture of the time was strongly resistant to edginess or innovation.