Sid Vicious: biography, personal life, best songs, photos

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Sid and Nancy - who hasn't heard of this couple at least once? Few people know, but the story is not as romantic as it might seem - Sex Pistols band member Sid Vicious and drug addict Nancy Spungen made the motto of that time come true - live fast and die young. But what do we know about the 70s punk icon? Who was this person?

No chance for happiness

Sid Vicious was born on May 10, 1957 in the family of a security guard John Ritchie and Ann - a woman with hippie inclinations and a drug addict for many years. Sid's real name is John Simon Ritchie. One of the then friends of the guy, Jah Wobble, recalled how his mother gave him a dose of heroin when the guy was barely 16 years old.

Youth

Naturally, Sid showed no interest in studying and dropped out of school at the age of 15. However, at the age of 16, under the name John Beverly, he enters Hackney College and begins to study photography. His classmate, John Lydon, later gave him his famous nickname to this day. Legend has it that John's hamster, Sid, bit John. Richie's finger, and he exclaimed "Sid is really vicious!" ("Sid, this is disgusting!"). Some sources say that this nickname stuck to John because of his passion for the work of Syd Barrett and because of the Lou Reed song "Vicious". Later, John Wardle (who performed under the pseudonym Jah Wobble) John Gray, John Ritchie and John Lydon united in the musical group The 4 Johns. As Sid's mother Ann said, unlike Lydon, who was distinguished by modesty and shyness, Sid dyed his hair in bright colors and imitated the then youth idol David Bowie. Lydon later recalled that the two of them often performed on the street and made money singing Alice Cooper songs: John sang the vocals, and Sid Vicious accompanied him.

Sex Pistols

Sid Vicious's place of residence was constantly changing - he lived with squatters, then with his mother, with whom he had a tense relationship. In the end, having finally quarreled with the latter, he stayed with the squatters, while joining the punk culture. Presumably during this period, Syd first found himself in a store on King's Road with the unusual name "Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die" (which was soon renamed "SEX") and began to communicate well with Glen Matlock (who worked in the store and playing bass in the evenings), and a little later with Steve Jones and Paul Cook. The latter had recently formed their own punk band, the Swankers, and were trying their best to persuade shopkeeper Malcolm McLaren (who had traveled to America to manage the band's business). New York Dolls) to run their business and become the group's manager. After some time, the group was renamed the Sex Pistols. Another frequenter of the store, John Lydon, became the vocalist. Initially, McLaren's wife, Vivienne Westwood, sympathized with Sid Vicious, but the choice was not made in favor of the latter.

Happy Chance

In January 1977, Sex Pistols bassist Glen Matlock left the band for family reasons, and it was decided to replace him with a man who most closely matched the image of a typical punk rocker. In the hands of Sid Vicious, the guitar looked impressive, but he played rather mediocrely. Despite a sincere desire to master the instrument, his playing was rather weak and unstable. Some of Sid's friends believed that he never learned to play until his death. Even Lemmy, from whom Vicious took lessons, was of the same opinion. Very often at concerts, his guitar was disconnected from amplifiers so that other musicians would not be confused. Syd made his first appearance with the Sex Pistols on April 3, 1977. The debut took place in the famous London club Screen of Green. The performance was filmed and included in Don Letts' Punk Rock Movie. In the clip of Sid Vicious at the very beginning of the video.

Fatal or fluke?

Vicious got into the group almost by accident, but, nevertheless, he managed to become its brightest character. His manners and behavior, characterized by harshness and extravagance, attracted the attention of the press. But in fact, he did not contribute practically anything to the work of the group - one song by SidVicious and a few re-hashings of others are all that's left of him. Although the most famous "chips" of the Sex Pistols belonged to Sid - he came up with the famous "Pogo" dance. By his own admission, he did it solely to knock down the visitors of the club in which he played. The contingent there, in his opinion, left much to be desired. Quote from Sid Vicious: "I wanted to stir up those damn junkies in the club."

Nancy

The biography of Sid Vicious would be incomplete without Nancy Spungen. She's a drug addicted dancer from New York who came to London with the rather dubious but clear purpose of sleeping with the members of the Sex Pistols. Pamela Rook, one of Sid's girlfriends who worked in a clothing store, said of her: John and Steve took advantage of her and she went over to Sid. It was instant passion. Nancy was for Sid not only the love of his life, but also the personification of the culture of New York, where his favorite band, the Ramones, was so popular. The couple in love settled down in Pamela's apartment very close to Buckingham Palace. All three slept on the same mattress in the dining room. According to Pamela, Vicious became easy prey for Nancy. All of London dreamed of him, and for him the light came together on a drug addict from New York. Surrounding people noted that this woman was rather thick-skinned and unpleasant, everyone saw through her, except for Sid in love.

Against the world

Meanwhile, the Sex Pistols blithely lost their contract withmajor record company A&M Records. The reason for this was, as usual, Sid, who regularly gets into all sorts of brawls. This was a man who both increased the hype around the group and pulled it down. Nevertheless, the guys signed a contract with Virgin Records, but at the time when "God Save the Queen" came out, Sid's condition left much to be desired: it turned out that he had hepatitis. There were two drugs in his life - Nancy and heroin, the dependence on them increased every day.

Meanwhile, the band returned from Scandinavia to the UK, played a few sets, and some of the members began to realize that Nancy was becoming a dangerous burden and was starting to have a detrimental effect on Sid. They tried to send her back to New York by force, but no one succeeded - Sid and Nancy fell in love with each other even more and confronted the whole world alone. Sometimes the couple looked quite presentable - for example, during charity concerts for the miners, Sid and Nancy made the most pleasant impression on the public, communicated with children and the public. At this time, Sid tries himself as a vocalist of the group - at a charity concert, he sang "Chinese Rocks" and "Born to Lose".

Forced slavery and free swimming

Meanwhile, producer Sid McLaren made it clear to him and his girlfriend that if they refused to participate in the filming of his new film, they would be left penniless. Syd returned to Paris to record Frank Sinatra's "My Way". Due to the complex nature of the artist, the recording went quite well.difficult, Sid now and then refused to work. The finished recordings were sent to London, where they were made into a typical punk rock version of the famous hit. The song began to skyrocket on the charts. For participating in the film, Vicious received a long-awaited freedom from his hated manager. He was replaced by Nancy Spungen, who immediately set about organizing his tour. The Vicious White Kids, together with Sid, gave one concert in London and immediately, having received a fee, returned to New York. As soon as they arrived, the couple rented the 100th room at the Chelsea Hotel, which was no longer known as a hotel, but as a drug den. Nancy organized concerts pretty well - along with Sid and his new group, wards from the disbanded McLaren groups performed on stage. Mick Jones, the guitarist of The Clash, made a guest appearance at Max's Club. But Sid, as always, managed to let everything go to hell - on April 7, 1978, he went on stage and could not utter two words - he just collapsed in drug intoxication. After that, many musicians refused to cooperate with him. After this incident, the couple decided to go to Nancy's parents, but the visit turned out to be a failure - complete drug addicts, which they were, made an extremely negative impression on Nancy's parents. Below is a photo of Sid Vicious with his lover.

Nancy's death

In October, Sid received a fee of 25 thousand dollars from his ex-manager McLaren. It was sent to the bottom drawer of the hotel desk. On October 11, the lovers urgently needed a dose of heroin. In their environmenta rumor immediately spread that they were ready to pay any amount for a dose, since they had the money. That evening, 2 drug dealers visited Sid and Nancy's hotel room. Of course, after receiving a dose, the couple fell out of life. On the morning of October 12, Sid found Nancy murdered in the bathtub with his own knife. He called the police and an ambulance, and soon he was arrested on suspicion of murder. A large sum of money from the bottom drawer of the desk disappeared and was never found. The heartbroken Sid was finished off by a severe alcohol and drug withdrawal, he did not understand what was happening and completely denied his guilt.