POP/ROCK - March 19, 1996

It’s Official: The Sex Pistols reunion is on, with plans for a world-wide tour including a six-week U.S. trek this summer. The tour, keyed to the seminal punk band’s 20th anniversary, comes 18 years after the group broke up following an eight-date U.S. tour in 1978, its only American concerts before now. All four original members--John (Johnny Rotten) Lydon, Steve Jones, Paul Cook and Glen Matlock (who was fired and replaced in 1977 by Sid Vicious, who later died)--announced the news during a press conference held Monday at London’s 100 Club, the venue at the center of the Pistols-led ‘70s punk explosion. “We have found a common cause, and it’s your money,” Lydon said. The tour is set to kick off June 21 in Finland and continue in Europe through July 20.

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Bye, Bye, Grammys: The Grammy Awards are apparently headed back to New York after two straight years in Los Angeles--moving for the first time to an arena-sized venue in Madison Square Garden. The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences is holding a press conference there Wednesday to announce next year’s plans. The move to an arena has long been discussed as a way to bring in more members of the music industry and general public than at New York’s Radio City Music Hall or L.A.’s Shrine Auditorium, the 6,000-seat theaters that have hosted the show in recent years. Capacity next year is planned for about 12,000. This will be the fourth time in seven years that New York has won the competition with L.A. to host the prestigious event.