Johnny Rotten keeping Tel Aviv gig, despite hate mail

Johnny “Rotten” Lydon, the former Sex Pistols front man, will not cancel his Aug. 31 show in Tel Aviv despite receiving hate mail.

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(JTA) — Johnny "Rotten” Lydon, the former Sex Pistols front man, will not cancel his Aug. 31 show in Tel Aviv despite receiving hate mail.

In his announcement Tuesday on on BBC 6 Music News, Lydon said he would not let “the political powers-that-be” dictate his audience.

Other performers, including Carlos Santana, Elivs Costello, The Pixies, The Klaxons, The Gorillaz, Dvendra Banhart and Gil Scott-Heron, have canceled performances in Israel.

Lydon said he would ignore the hate mail and stir up trouble musically.

“I’m anti-government … and I shall be making that loud and clearly proud once I’m in Israel,” Lydon told the BBC.

Pro-Palestinian activists are planning to picket Lydon’s July 11 show in Bristol, England, to protest his Tel Aviv show.

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