Who was Nancy Spungen’s boyfriend Sid Vicious and how did the Sex Pistols bassist die?
THERE are many rumours that Sid Vicious, the controversial bassist of The Sex Pistols, murdered his girlfriend Nancy Spungen.
BBC2’s The Misinvestigations of Romesh Ranganathan is diving into the case. Here’s everything you need to know about the bassist who rocked the world of punk.
Who was Nancy Spungen’s boyfriend Sid Vicious?
Sid was actually named Simon John Ritchie and he was born May 10, 1957 in London.
His mother, Anne, joined the army and met Sid’s father, a Buckingham Palace guard, shortly after.
Sid and his mum moved to Ibiza under the understanding that Sid’s father, John, would be joining them.
His father failed to appear and, according to some sources, Anne had to sell marujana to get by.
When Sid and his mother returned to England, they moved to Tunbridge Wells and later to Hackney.
Anne became addicted to heroin and when her son turned 16-years-old she kicked him out.
In a 1988 interview she said: “I remember saying to him: ‘It’s either you or me, and it’s not going to be me.
“‘I have got to try to preserve myself and you just fuck off.’
“He said: ‘I’ve not got anywhere to go,’ and I said: ‘I don’t care.’”
Sid met John Lydon, later Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols, at Westminster Kingsway College.
The pair began to frequent King’s Road in Chelsea, London and were fans of Vivienne Westwood’s and Malcom McLaren’s shop SEX.
Sid joined John’s band, The Sex Pistols, in 1977 and the band went on to become one of the most notorious punk bands of all time with their song God Save the Queen.
How long were Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen together for?
Sid met Nancy Spungen, an American groupie, in 1977.
The couple met in London and quickly became inseparable.
Nancy made her money by obtaining drugs for musicians and working as a topless dancer.
Their relationship was extremely volatile, since Nancy was known to be verbally and physically aggressive.
When the Sex Pistols disbanded, after releasing just one album, Sid slipped into a drug-induced coma at JFK airport.
He reunited with Nancy and the couple continued to take drugs, as they travelled from New York to Paris and, then, back to America.
Nancy became Sid’s manager when they moved into the infamous Hotel Chelsea, but eventually decided it was time for Sid and herself to detox from drugs.
How did Sid Vicious die?
Sid was released from his detoxification programme on February 1, 1979 and headed back to New York.
That night he began to take heroin again and was given four barbiturates by a friend.
Sid died during the night and was found by his friends the next morning.
There was rampant speculation about how Sid died, as Nancy had died only a few months before.
Did Sid Vicious kill Nancy Spungen?
Nancy was found dead on October 12, 1978 with a stab wound to the abdomen in a room at Hotel Chelsea.
Sid was arrested for the murder, charged with second degree murder and released on bail.
Just four months later, Sid was found dead too following a drug overdose.
Nancy’s death became the subject of international intrigue and inspired many songs, films and TV shows about the volatile couple.