Born John Ritchie, the man best known to history as Sid Vicious is one of the names most associated with the punk rock movement of late Seventies England. He played bass for the legendary Sex Pistols (replacing their original bassist), and became one of the faces of the movement, alongside Pistols’ lead singer Johnny Rotten. (Of all the world’s most famous rock stars – and Sid would rank pretty highly – he holds the distinction of being the single least technically proficient).
But Sid had a problem: heroin addiction. He’d been on the horse since he was young – his mother was one of his major suppliers, and his relationship with Nancy Spungen was largely based on their shared addiction. In October 1978, Spungen was found dead of stab wounds in their hotel room, and Sid was briefly charged with her murder, although the charges were later dropped for lack of evidence. It remains unclear whether Nancy committed suicide or Sid killed her, but Sid’s reaction to her death is undisputed: he attempted to kill himself ten days later.
Sid’s death was due to an overdose of heroin (supplied to him by his mother), and to this day, whether his death was accidental, suicide, or even murder remains disputed.
