Comedy

That Time Johnny Rotten Narrated a ‘South Park’ Mockumentary

The former Sex Pistols singer filled us in on some side character lore

Johnny Rotten
Johnny Rotten isn't just a singer for the Sex Pistols and Public Image Ltd. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

1998 was a big year for South Park. For starters, the show received its first Emmy nomination for the episode “Big Gay Al’s Big Gay Boat Ride.” On top of that, the first video game based on the series was released for the Nintendo 64. The end of the year also saw the release of Chef Aid: The South Park Album, featuring original songs from a long list of musicians, including Ozzy Osbourne, Elton John, and Master P.

The album was recorded concert-style and based on a benefit show put together for Chef in the Season 2 South Park episode “Chef Aid.” In it, Chef gets sued after claiming that Alanis Morissette stole one of his old songs. Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny then set out to raise money to cover Chef’s legal fees by reaching out to different artists who knew him when he was a musician. They all agree to come to the benefit show and perform some of the album’s songs.

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To promote the CD, Comedy Central aired a half-hour mockumentary called Chef Aid: Behind the Menu. Sex Pistols singer John Lydon (formerly known as Johnny Rotten) narrated the show, which was presented as a parody of the popular VH1 series Behind the Music. A number of the stars featured on the Chef Aid album make appearances, along with others who had no involvement at all, like Twisted Sister singer Dee Snyder, Jermaine Dupri, and actual chef Emeril Lagasse. As for why all these celebrities agreed to be interviewed about a side character from an animated TV show, Lydon tells us that Chef apparently “touched the lives of some of rock’s biggest stars.”

From there, Lydon and the interviewees get into the story of Chef’s largely undocumented music career. Despite never recording an album, Chef had a significant impact on the work of many others, or so we’re told. Meat Loaf, for example, says that it was Chef who gave him his stage name while he was cooking his famous meatloaf for him one night. And according to Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, everything he’s ever done “has pretty much been a direct theft of Chef’s genius.”

Snyder was also supposedly heavily influenced by Chef before he disappeared from the scene without explanation. Chef himself then pops up to blame Twisted Sister for making him quit the music business in the 1980s. Ozzy Osbourne, for one, was happy he gave it up because, as he sees it, it gave everybody else a chance to succeed. 

Lydon then recounts the events of the “Chef Aid” episode and the ensuing benefit concert. After that, they delve into Chef’s flair for cooking and picking up women. Lydon finally brings things to a close by introducing the music video for Master P’s song from the Chef Aid album, “Kenny’s Dead,” featuring the South Park kids.

Check out the full show below.

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