The distribution of the product of the proto‐oncogene MYC in lymphoid tissue has not been established in three decades, due to a combination of factors including low abundance, short half‐life, and antibody sensitivity and specificity. We sought to validate antibodies in order to define the expression and distribution of MYC in mature normal lymphoid cells by multiparametric immunophenotyping. Having validated two antibodies for flow cytometry and for immunohistochemistry, we analysed normal tonsil tissue. MYC is expressed predominantly in B cells, some of which are interfollicular large, activated, and cycling CD30+, IRF4+, AID± blasts. Follicular mantle, isotype‐switched memory B cells and FcRH4/IRTA1+ B cells express MYC in a wide range of levels and are small non‐proliferating CDKN1B/p27‐positive or ‐negative resting B lymphocytes. Germinal centre founder cells, CD30+ BCL6± AID± germinal centre blasts, and a population of GC cells in the apical light zone express MYC. MYC is expressed in all phases of the cell cycle in activated and mature B cells, but rarely in other lymphoid types and only partially fulfils the predictions derived from extractive and ex vivo experiments of the past 30 years. Copyright © 2012 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.