Sid Vicious, born John Simon Ritchie on May 10, 1957, and died February 2, 1979, was an English punk rock musician, who played bass guitar for the Sex Pistols.

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Vicious was born in London to John, a guard at Buckingham Palace, and Anne Ritchie, a hippie. Sid’s father left soon after he was born. Sid and his mother moved to the island of Ibiza. Anne married Christopher Beverly in 1965 and they moved back to Kent. Beverly died six months later.

In 1968, Sid and his mother rented a flat in Tunbridge Wells, and he attended Sandown Court School. In 1971, they moved to Hackney in East London. They also lived for a time in Somerset and Sid attended Clevedon Secondary Modern.

According to Dennis Morris, the band's photographer, Vicious was "deep down, a shy person". However, did have violent tendencies and he and Jah Wobble assaulted NME journalist Nick Kent with a motorcycle chain, and at The Speakeasy (a nightclub in London where various rock stars frequented) Vicious threatened BBC DJ and Old Grey Whistle Test presenter Bob Harris. Harris threatened Vicious with a lawsuit. Ironically, Vicious was couldn’t fight well, being beaten up by Paul Weller, David Coverdale, and Thin Lizzy guitarist Brian Robertson, who beat him with a clog. Bouncers and audience members assaulted Sid at various times.

While Vicious was squatting with John Lydon (Johnny Rotten), John Wardle and John Gray, John Ritchie was given the nickname "Vicious" , not Sid, after Rotten’s pet hamster. When Rotten’s hamster bit Ritchie, who said "[Rotten's] Sid is really vicious!". The hamster was described by Rotten as “the softest, furriest, weediest thing on earth”.

According to Rotten, he and Vicious begged for money often. They would play Alice Cooper covers and Sid would play the tambourine. People gave them money to be quiet. In 1976, Vicious’ musical career began as a member of The Flowers of Romance with former co-founder of The Clash, Keith Levene (who went to co-find Rotten’s post-Pistols project Public Image Limited - P.I.L.), and Palmolive and Viv Albertine, who later formed The Slits. Vicious also appeared with Siouxsie & the Banshees, on drums at their famous first gig at 100 Club Punk Festival in London's Oxford Street. Also, as noted in the Documentary Final Damnation, Vicious, as well as Dave Vanian, was considered for lead singer for the Damned, but never showed up for the audition.

Before joining the Sex Pistols, Vicious associated with The Bromley Contingent, the fashion avant garde that followed the Sex Pistols. Various publications including Rotten’s autobiography, England's Dreaming by John Savage, and films like The Filth and the Fury, Vicious was joined the Sex Pistols after Glen Matlock left in February 1977 because he was at every gig anyway. Malcolm McLaren, Sex Pistol’s manager, once said "if Rotten is the voice of punk, then Vicious is the attitude". Alan Jones described Vicious as "the iconic punk look (...) Sid, on image alone, is what all punk rests on." Vicious would paint his nails a sloppy purple.

Sid’s first gig with the Sex Pistols was on April 3, 1977, at the Screen on the Green in London. Don Letts filmed his debut, which appears in Punk Rock Movie.

In November 1977, Vicious met an American groupie, Nancy Spungen, and they fell in love immediately. Ironically, Spungen had come to London in hopes to meet Jerry Nolan of The Heartbreakers. Spungen, already a heroin addict, and Vicious, who had a "live fast, die young" mentality, were a lethal mixture, and soon they both shared the addiction to heroin. Vicious and Spungen were deeply in love, however, often violent, and their relationship was rocky. This was proved disastrous for the Sex Pistols. Both deteriorating during the 1978 American tour.

On January 14, 1978, after a concert at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, the Sex Pistols broke up. With Spungen acting as Sid’s "manager", Vicious went solo. Vicious performed with various musicians like Mick Jones of The Clash, Glen Matlock, original Sex Pistols bassist, Rat Scabies of The Damned, and Arthur Kane, Jerry Nolan, and Johnny Thunders of the New York Dolls. Vicious performed the mainly at Max's Kansas City drawing huge crowds, and this is where his final performances took place.

Vicious wasn’t viewed as a great, or even good, bass player. Steve Jones, guitarist for the Sex Pistols, was asked why he recorded bass instead of Vicious on Never Mind The Bollocks during an interview for Guitar Hero III and Jones responded "Sid was in a hospital with hepatitis so he couldn't really play, not that he could play anyway". Other band members would unplug Sid's bass during performances, because his playing was so bad. Vicious asked Lemmy, the bassist of British Metal band Motörhead, to show him how to play bass saying, "I can't play bass", with Lemmy replying "I know." Lemmy in another interview said, "Yeah. It was all uphill. And he still couldn't play bass when he died." Glen Matlock, former bassist of the Sex Pistols also gave Vicious lessons.

Vicious, contrary to popular tale, did finally learn to play the bass competently. Sid was dedicated to the band for the few months between joining and meeting Spungen, and made learning the bass guitar his top priority. At his first show at the Screen on the Green, about two months after joining the Sex Pistols, audio taken demonstrates Vicious could hold a tune, and he even pulls off a 'run' during the intro to "God Save the Queen". However, progress came to a halt soon after meeting Spungen and the legacy known as “Sid and Nancy” was born. Audio from Sid’s final performance at Winterland records Vicious’ descent.

SID AND NANCY

Sid and Nancy drowned in a world of addiction and self-destruction. A documented interview shows Vicious and Spungen in bed during a heroin induced interview at the Hotel Chelsea Room 100 in New York where they resided. Sid unconscious during most of the interview and Spungen barely coherent. Sid nearly died after an overdose on heroin, which led him to become hospitalized for sometime. October 12, 1978, in the early morning, Sid claims he woke from a drug induced stupor only to find Nancy covered in blood on the bathroom floor dead. Nancy apparently bled to death from a single stab wound to her stomach.

November 22, 1978, Vicious was arrested and charged with Nancy’s “murder”. Sid claimed he could not remember the event.

There are claims that Nancy was murdered, but not by Sid. Perhaps, a robbery took place as several items, including a substantial amount of cash, were claimed missing from the couples room. In the book Pretty Vacant: A History of Punk, written by Phil Strongman, he names Nancy’s alleged killer as Rockets Redglare, an actor and stand-up comic. Redglare, being one of two drug dealers to have visited the couple’s room at the Chelsea Hotel that fateful night, delivered 40 capsules of hydromorphone to the couple. Per the Police Report, strangely Neon Leon had Vicious’ leather jacket and two gold records in his room, which he claimed Sid had given to him for safe keeping on the night of October 11/12, 1978.

Vicious’ Bail was $50,000, which was arranged by his mother. Sid planned to record an album, a collection of standards including White Christmas and Mack the Knife, according to McLaren, with fellow Pistols Steve Jones and Paul Cook in order to pay for his defense.

On October 22, 1978 (10 days after Nancy's death), Sid attempted suicide by cutting his arm deeply, but failed and Sid was placed in Bellevue Hospital. After being discharged from the hospital, Vicious was charged with assault after smashing a beer mug in Todd Smith’s (Patti Smith's brother) face. Vicious was arrested on December 9, 1978 and incarcerated at Riker's Island jail for 55 days. On February 1-2, 1979, Sid was released on bail. While doing his time at Riker's Island, Sid wrote the following for Nancy:

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 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.

February 2, 1979, a bail celebration was held, a small gathering at the home of Michelle Robinson, Sid’s new girlfriend with whom he'd started living the day he got out of Bellevue Hospital. Sid, having been weaned off heroin while incarcerated, was clean. During the party, Vicious obtained some heroin, and overdosed. He was revived by girlfriend Robinson, and the couple fell asleep together later on that night. However, Sid was discovered the next morning dead.

New York Chief Coroner Michael Baden explained that when a person overdoses on heroin, and then falls asleep, their heart slows with every REM phase. Vicious died around 10:00 a.m. Subsequently, Forensic experts discovered that the heroin was 80 percent pure, as opposed to the normal 5 percent for that era/area. Since Sid had been clean since October he had a very low tolerance.

During Autopsy: Post Mortem, which aired on HBO, Dr. Baden states that Sid’s lungs were filled with fluid and water, which is common for someone who has overdosed on heroin. Ultimately, Vicious drowned in his own fluids. Sid and Nancy, a movie by Alex Cox, documents Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen. Johnny Rotten, in his autobiography, says he despises the movie.