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Sid Vicious' life was more twisted than you thought
- 2 days ago
- 7 min read
When it came to Anarchy in the UK for the Sex Pistols, it was Sid Vicious who really embodied it. But did you know his life story was a lot sadder than you might have thought? Nearly 40 years on since his tragic death, and of course, the death of his girlfriend Nancy Spungen, let’s have a look at the short life of one of punk’s biggest characters.
Funnily enough, Sid Vicious was not his real name. He was actually born Simon Ritchie, but I think we can all agree that’s way less cool. Vicious was dealt a bad hand early on in life, having experienced an incredibly unstable upbringing. He was born in South London, but shortly after his birth he and his mother - Anne - moved to Ibiza.
The plan was that his father was going to follow, but he never showed up. With no financial support, Anne turned to drug dealing while out there, which to be honest set the tone for the rest of her son’s life. Eventually, the British embassy helped the pair return to the UK and they started again in Kent.
It didn’t get better from there. By 1973 they had moved to Hackney in London, and Anne’s drug habits had taken a dark turn. She was addicted to heroin, and Vicious had to watch as she was consumed by it.
However it wasn’t all doom and gloom. During his early teen years he attended Kingsway College of Further Education, which is where he met a certain John Lydon (who, like Vicious, would later take on the undeniably cooler stage name Johnny Rotten). The pair became friends, and it was this connection that would later get him a chance to get himself on marketing genius Malcolm McLaren’s radar. More on that later.
All the way through his schooling, it was clear that he had no support from home. Fellow punk Jah Wobble described just how bad Sid's childhood was to the Guardian in 1988:
"[His mother had] no interest in (Sid's) life. She didn't even know he was attending Kingsway. She was into the hardcore drug thing — heroin and opiates — which was all-embracing, that was her life."
By 16, Vicious was kicked out of his home by his mother. In a very frank interview with the Guardian, she really let her maternal instincts shine through…
"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 f**k off.' He said: 'I've not got anywhere to go,' and I said: 'I don't care.'”
Now I don’t know about you, but that angry and depressed stereotype of Vicious is starting to make sense now. What chance did he have in life with a mother like that?
I guess this is where music comes into it; as an outlet. Vicious was becoming pretty well known in the London punk scene by this point, and not always for the right reasons. He was known as being violent, and often on drugs himself.
By 1975, Sex Pistols had already formed without him on the lineup. But it was at the 100 Club Punk Special festival they were playing at the following year that we get the first example of Vicious grabbing the attention of manager, Malcolm McLaren.
At the last minute, a band dropped out of the lineup, meaning there was a slot to fill. Luckily, the newly formed Suzie and The Banshees stepped up and filled the slot. They recruited Vicious on the drums, fully aware he wasn’t very good at them. It was more about the vibe.
Steve Severin admitted to Far Out Magazine in 2022:
“He said he had absolutely no ability. That sounded absolutely brilliant to us.”
The makeshift band ended up performing a 20 minute improvised set of the Lord’s Prayer, and it was this set that marked the birth of Siouxsie and the Banshees... and for many people this set was the birthplace of the entire post-punk genre…
Anyway, Sid’s role in this band was only temporary, but it inflated his presence in the punk scene even further.
He kinda ruined any positive praise the next day, though. On the following day of the festival The Damned were playing, and, drugged up on amphetamines, Vicious decided to launch a pint glass at the lead singer. He missed, but the shards of glass hit an innocent woman in the eye. He was arrested and imprisoned at Ashford Remand Centre. Maybe that’s why his career as a Banshee didn’t last very long.
It would be another year before he’d be called up to join Sex Pistols. At that point, he had already started another band, but fate had other plans.
Glen Matlock’s departure from the band meant McLaren had an opportunity use Vicious’ reputation to push the band even further. Vicious abandoned his new Flowers of Romance to join his former school friend on the Sex Pistols’ line-up.
This is when his fame skyrocketed. Tracks like God Save the Queen completely embodied the punk anti-establishment views of the time.
And my personal favourite, Sex Pistols’ unique twist on My Way by Frank Sinatra with Vicious on vocals.
The sarcastic, comical intro, followed by the sneering upbeat punk take on the song is so much fun, and I think it's nice to see Vicious’ lighter side.
It was just a year that Vicious was in Sex Pistols before they broke up, but its kinda hard to imagine them ever existing without him. There are certainly some good stories that came from it.
But there was one person who came into Vicious’ life that year that would change everything. Nancy Spungen.
She was an American, originally from Philadelphia, with a troubled background like Vicious. She had also shown signs of violence in her childhood, and had spent a lot of time in institutes. She had been making money through music journalism and sex work when she met Vicious, and had come to the UK in December 1976 to follow the Heartbreakers.
The pair were definitely not good for each other. Both drug addicts, they fed the worst sides of each other. She took on the role of his manager, and they were inseparable.
This became a problem for McLaren and the rest of the band members, who saw her as - if you can believe it, based on what we already know about Vicious - a bad influence. McLaren even tried to keep them apart.
However, by 1978 Sex Pistols had imploded with or without Nancy. Disillusionment with their image and clashes between the members and McLaren meant it came to a natural end, and Vicious was left in the worst possible situation for a hardcore drug addict…. With no purpose.
He and Nancy began a permanent residency at room 100 of Manhattan’s Hotel Chelsea, and spent their days… doing lots of drugs. This is where it gets even more tragic.
On the 11th October 1978, both were on a variety of drugs. Reportedly, Spungen had asked their drug dealer for strong opioid painkillers that night. Later, another guest at the hotel heard ‘female moans’ coming from the room.
The next morning, Vicious went to the front desk for help. Spungen was dead on the bathroom floor from a knife wound. She was just 20 years old.
Following her death, a number of theories and rumours emerged. At the time, police considered the possibility that Vicious may have been involved, particularly given his well-documented struggles with substance abuse, and he was arrested on suspicion of murder. However, no court ever reached a verdict, and the circumstances surrounding the case remained unclear.
Other accounts suggested alternative explanations, including claims that third parties who were known to visit the hotel room may have been involved following a dispute or robbery.
Ultimately, the exact circumstances of Spungen’s death were never conclusively established. Although the situation cast a shadow over Vicious, he was later released on bail.
He gave an interview that gives us an insight into what he was thinking at the time. He claimed that Nancy had foreseen her death. He told Bernard Clarke in 1978:
“It was meant to happen. Nancy always said she would die before she’d turn 21.”
He also made it clear that he expected to join her. Sadly, his wishes came true in early 1979. Before he could return to court, Vicious died of a heroin overdose, aged just 21.
A further controversial allegation was later reported by Sex Pistols photographer Peter Graville, who claimed in a media interview that Sid Vicious’s mother may have been involved on the night of his death. Graville alleged that she obtained the heroin and administered it to her son.
Graville told the Mirror in 2016:
"Not only did Sid's mother Anne buy him the fatal dose of heroin she also administered it."
These claims have never been proven and remain disputed. If they were accurate, they would add a deeply tragic dimension to the events surrounding his death. However, there is no clear evidence to establish what Anne knew or intended. She later died in the 1990s, leaving many questions unanswered.
I guess we’ll never know what Vicious’ life would have been like had he never joined the Pistols, although we can probably guess it would have been just as depressing considering his drug habit and upbringing. To this day, however, John Lydon feels guilty for getting Vicious involved in the band. He told the Independent in 2009:
“I’m sorry, God, for the day I brought Sid into the band. He felt so isolated, poor old Sid, because he wasn’t the sharpest knife on the block. The best aspect of his character, which was his humour, just vanished the day he joined the Pistols.”
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