John "Rambo" Stevens (14 February 1957 – 11 December 2023) was an English music producer and manager, best known as manager, personal minder and long-term friend of punk rock legend John Lydon (also known as Johnny Rotten), and music producer of several albums for his band Public Image Ltd. He also made documentaries about Public Image Ltd and the Sex Pistols.
Life and career
editJohn Stevens was born in north London on 14 February 1957, as the son of Dennis Stevens and Eileen (née McCauley).[1]
After leaving school, Stevens took an apprenticeship with a jeweller and then signed on with the Parachute Regiment, where he acquired his Rambo nickname from his fellow recruits due to his fearlessness.[2][1]
Stevens became the long-term friend, personal minder and manager of John Lydon.[3][4] Having known each other since childhood,[5] and both lived in Finsbury Park, London, they were friends for more than 50 years, with Rambo having been described as "Lydon's minder, his hairdresser, his signet-ring designer, his fellow traveller, his mate."[6]
Stevens produced the Public Image Ltd studio albums This Is PiL (2012), What the World Needs Now... (2015) and End of World (2023). He also produced a number of documentaries about the band and also the Sex Pistols.[2]
In 2000, Stevens married Laura Dollins, an American he had met in Memphis four years earlier. Lydon was his best man.[2][1]
Stevens died from an aortic heart dissection in the United States on 11 December 2023, at the age of 66.[2][1]
References
edit- ^ a b c d "John 'Rambo' Stevens obituary". The Times. 20 December 2023. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
- ^ a b c d Evans, Greg (12 December 2023). "John "Rambo" Stevens Dies: John Lydon Manager Produced Documentaries On The Sex Pistols & Public Image Ltd".
- ^ Trendell, Andrew (4 December 2017). "John Lydon to represent Ireland in Eurovision Song Contest?".
- ^ Brinkworth, Alison (21 July 2022). "Sex Pistol icon posts random videos of checkouts at Midlands shopping centre". Birmingham Live.
- ^ Ross, Deborah (25 October 2014). "John Lydon: 'I love very deeply'". The Times. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
- ^ Hattenstone, Simon (17 May 2002). "'This is my Britain. Our Britain. Not some German tourist's'". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
External links
edit- John "Rambo" Stevens discography at Discogs
- John "Rambo" Stevens at IMDb