"I come from the Pistols, the world's most notorious band. We didn't ask for that nonsense. That was just there."

"I'm definitely influential. That can't be denied. That's a historical fact, and in so many different ways."

"For a long time I tried to deliberately shy away from anything to do with being in public at all, and that made life very, very difficult."

As Public Image Ltd. prepare for their first UK live dates of 2013, DiS spoke to frontman, founder, musical icon and cultural anti-hero John Lydon.

In a two-part feature, we reflect on nearly four decades that Johnny Rotten has spent in the spotlight, generating endless headlines while producing generation-defining music.

First, we take a look at John Lydon: The Man - see DiS struggle to get a word in edgeways as we quiz Lydon about his reluctant celebrity status, and find out how he feels about being accused of violence, racism and sexism.

"You're between a rock and a hard place and it's quite crushing, the damage that it does emotionally, because it's such a lie. It hurt me, it hurt my community."

Part two considers John Lydon: The Music - he tells us why it took so long to get PiL back on the road, offers and in-depth analysis of his approach to music and explains the benefits of his band's shape-shifting line-up.

"In many ways what Public Image became was like a college of further education for people. Everybody went on to make very different sounding things but PiL was the springboard for them, and that's very, very good."

For a rare and revealing insight into one of the most controversial figures in the history of popular culture, keep an eye out for DiS meets John Lydon: The Man and The Music.

"I'm here to destroy them rules and principles. They're the enemy. I love a bit of butter on me butty!"

Read Part One here.