Never remotely resembling a pop star, Keith Levene was renowned for his work as a challenging and groundbreaking guitarist, and for his all-round creative input into Public Image Ltd (PiL), which he formed with John Lydon when the latter split from the Sex Pistols in 1978.
Andy Bell, guitarist with Ride, commented that Levene had “a guitar tone like ground-up diamonds fired at you through a high pressure hose”. Anyone familiar with Levene’s scalding, coruscating playing on PiL’s debut single Public Image will know exactly what he meant.
