So who were Sid and Nancy, and why did they meet such horrible fates by such a young age? There are a few stated and obvious facts and reasons, but the rest is anybody’s guess. The case has nearly become a myth, and is still today a big question mark without an answer.
Nancy Laura Spungen was born on February 27th, 1958, in Philadelphia, USA. She had a troubled childhood with violent behavioural symptoms – her first sedatives given to her when aged three months, she was a danger to her siblings and often separated from them, she verbally abused and threatened people, and stabbed the babysitter with scissors, and attacked her mother with a hammer, for instance. As a teenager, Nancy started suffering from depressions and committed self-harm. She was put in various hospitals and facilities without success, and on top of it, she had an abortion when aged 13. It was a proof for her earlily begun wild life style, and her life got more and more torn apart with time. As a 17-year-old, after threatening her parents to death, they decided it was time to let her go. Nancy left home to move to New York, where she joined the rock’n’roll scene, and ended up in the same circles as bands such as the Ramones, the New York Dolls, and Aerosmith, by taking them to bed. Her drug addiction worsened and to support herself she worked as a stripper, sometimes leading to prostitution. Soon, Nancy moved to London to be where the “action” was.
Johnny Rotten opened up Nancy’s eyes for his band, the Sex Pistols. Rotten rejected her, and instead introduced her to Sid Vicious.
Simon John Ritchie (or Simon John Beverley, as his mother Anne remarried), mostly known as Sid Vicious, was brought into this world on the 10th of May, 1957. Shortly after his birth, the father, with the same name, left Sid and his mother to what would later show to be insanity.
For a few years, they lived on the island of Ibiza, where his mother sold drugs for a living. This is probably the way Sid was lead into his early drug and alcohol abuse.
In 1965, Anne married Christopher Beverley, who died only six months later. She took her son with her to Tunbridge Wells, and later to Hackney. She kept shifting between different jobs, and for a while they lived in Somerset. Around the time Sid was fourteen, they lived in London again, and settled down. Sid once again went to a new school, where he met John Lydon (to be Johnny Rotten) and became close friends. Also, they hung out with the two other punks John Wardle and John Gray; they were often referred to as The Four Johns.
Sid was often described as stupid, angry, violent, inarticulate and destructive, but also kind, sensitive, funny, passive and intelligent. Perhaps the only adjective that can be applied to Sid Vicious is troubled.
Sid departed himself from the crowd at the many Sex Pistols gigs he went to, as he invented the ‘pogo dance’; jumping up and down to get a better view of the stage, and was known as one of their biggest fans. Sid was also a very familiar face at Malcom McLaren’s, the manager of Sex Pistols, clothing store. In February 1977, after Glen Matlock’s departure, he was asked to join the band as a bassist. Sid’s knack for playing wasn’t exceptional, but it was enough for three-chord songs. Everybody also agreed that he had the right look and attitude for a Sex Pistol.
Both Sid and Nancy suffered from behavioural issues, and started realizing they were soulmates. Nancy had come to London looking for Jerry Nolan of the Heartbreakers. She was a heroin addict, and Sid, who already believed in his “live fast, die young” or “too fast to live” motto, soon started depending heavily on her. They both moved in with Sid’s mother, but as she and Nancy didn’t get along well, the couple found their own place.
Although they seemed to love each other deeply, their angular and often violent, and even sadistic relationship had a disastrous effect on the Sex Pistols. During their American tour in 1978, both Sid as an individual and the band seemed to deteriorate greatly. The Sex Pistols broke up on January 14th, 1978 after a concert in San Franscisco. After this, Sid and Nancy spent a month in Paris (where Sid shot some scenes for Malcom McLaren’s Sex Pistols-project The Great Rock’n’Roll Swindle). Back in London, Sid opened up a solo career, but gained no large welcoming from the audience, nor any further success.
Nancy, acting as Sid’s new manager, figured that he’d be better off in USA, and the heroin would be cheaper there. Their first week back in the states was spent at Nancy’s family’s house, whereupon they went to New York and checked in to Chelsea Hotel. Although they had started visiting a methadone clinic occassionally, they were soon back on heroin.
Many who had known Sid throughout the years, thought that Nancy affected him negatively. It’s been rumoured that he was not a drug addict before meeting her; Nancy asserted so herself, as Sid claimed to have done drugs for two years before he met her.
Sometimes, the two of them showed completely other sides of the relationship, however. Once when Nancy was ill, Sid acted as her nurse, feeding her and calling her mother with daily updates on her health.
Their relationship sometimes got completely out of hand, and the closer time got to Nancy’s death, the more arguments they had.
For example, Nancy told her mother on the phone that Sid once had tried to jump off a balcony, and the suicide attempt had succeeded unless Nancy, terrified to lose him, had grabbed him and pulled him back up. She recalled that Sid furiously had grabbed her by the hair and started to relentlessly drive her head against the wall, repeated times, until she was merely conscious; her blood running down the wall.
Friends of the couple also recalled Sid abusing Nancy, but the reason was her being so verbally abusive herself; and sometimes beating Sid too.
This mania eventually lead to the death of Nancy, and Sid was arrested for murdering her. He first said he had no remembrance of doing so, even if he just after her death was heard saying “she must have fell on the knife”. He later admitted, however, after a fashion, to killing Nancy. He told the police that he “did it, because I’m a dirty dog.” This version of Nancy’s demise has become the accepted one, even though Sid was never tried for the crime or convicted of it. He was charged for second degree murder, and immediately released on a $ 50 000 bail.
There is, though, a genuine possibility that Sid might not have murdered Nancy. Various drug dealers had been in and out of the room on the night of October 11th, and the police ascertained that the two of them had been robbed of $1500. Some believed that Nancy owed a dealer money, and had to pay the price in another, and less humble, way.
Many stories are told about their last night at Chelsea Hotel. Sid and Nancy had been high on unknown amounts of drugs, and friends said that they were “kind of weird that night”.
Sid was seen roaming around the corridors, before inviting a few friends to their room. Nancy showed them pictures from her album, and Sid, as playing with a knife, said ‘I really used to look good. I’m ugly. I can’t play bass’.
As the friends had left, Sid woke them up again at 3 am, leaving things such as his leather jacket, Sex Pistols clippings and his gold record to them saying ‘I want you to keep these for me.’
Nancy’s mother, Deborah Spungen, shortly after her daughter's death started writing a biography about her, entitled And I Don't Want To Live This Life Anymore. It was named after a poem that Sid wrote for Nancy while he was in prison. In the book, it showed that mrs Spungen and mrs Beverly had the same opinion. Deborah wrote that she thought Sid had killed Nancy, but on her instructions, because of his huge love for her.
Proof for this could also be that Nancy bought the knife for Sid, and Nancy’s very last phone call to her mom seemed as if she was tying loose ends; asking about her grandmother and telling mrs Spungen to send dad all her love.
Sid started exchanging letters with mrs Spungen after that Nancy died, where he mourned “his baby”, and wrote passionate texts about how much he wished he was with her: “We always knew that we would go to the same place when we died. We so much wanted to die together in each other's arms. I cry every time I think about that. I promised my baby that I would kill myself if anything ever happened to her, and she promised me the same. This is my final commitment to my love.”
Ten days after that Nancy passed away, Sid tried to commit suicide once again; he could see no future without her, saying: “I want to join my Nancy, I didn’t keep my part of the bargain.” It sure refers to that he and Nancy had a suicide pact, but for some reason he was not able to take his own life the same night as her, and it also shows that the mothers of the couple might have been correct.
This was followed by a time spent in hospital, and Sid was released to the care of his mother. Sid seemed to have lost control completely, and although it was not long since he had been in prison, he found himself back there soon, since he had gotten involved in a fight. He spent Christmas in prison, and was again released on bail, on February 1st. A party to celebrate this happening was held in a friend's flat, along with Sid, his mom and a few other friends. That night, Sid got heroin from his mother and collapsed. He was revived by the others, but refused to go to the hospital, which could have saved his life. He was left alone in a bedroom, and when found in the morning, the other guests of the party could state that he had died in his sleep.
There are lots and lots of speculations on the death of Sid Vicious, and no one knows the actual truth. Some say Sid’s mother gave him more heroin after the first overdose that night, because she knew that if his life would go on, he would only end up in jail and become depressed, so she thought her action was gentle.
Others say that Sid woke up in the middle of the night and took more heroin to commit suicide, while doctors suggest that going to sleep after an overdose slowly makes your heart stop beating.
It's also been said that Rockets Redglare, a man who went to Sid and Nancy's room on October 12th, is guilty for a double-murder of Sid and Nancy.
The night Nancy died, Sid had collapsed on the bed, and Rockets Redglare returned to the room to steal money he knew Nancy had. Perhaps she owed him, perhaps not. Nancy met him with resistance; and also met her own death. Redglare was later bragging about killing her, while showing some of her bloody bills.
On the party which Sid took his very last overdose at, one of his friends were sent to provide him with heroin. The dealer he found was Rockets Redglare, who asked who the heroin was for. The friend responded that it was for "Sid, you know, Sid Vicious", and was then offered another bag than he first was.
Years later, this friend of Sid saw a picture of Redglare, and immediately identified him as the guy who sold the heroin for Sid.
But most people say that Sid finally made his wish of committing suicide come true. Mrs Beverly showed a suicide note that Sid had left, which said “We had a death pact. I have to keep my half of the bargain. Please bury me next to my baby. Bury me in my leather jacket, jeans and motor cycle boots. Goodbye.” Although in 1996, mrs Beverly admitted to have killed Sid, before committing suicide the same way.
His demise will remain a speculation, a myth and an unanswered question.
After Sid’s death, mrs Beverly scattered his ashes over Nancy’s grave, as a sign of their immortal love. And maybe death was the only way for Sid to finally reunite with his beloved Nancy again
Rest in peace, Sid and Nancy, wherever you are.
You were my little baby girl,
And I shared all your fears.
Such joy to hold you in my arms
and kiss away your tears.
But now you're gone, there's only pain
and nothing I can do.
And I don't want to live this life,
If I can't live for you.
To my beautiful baby girl.
Our love will never die...
- Sid Vicious.