IWalked Audio Tours
IWalked New York City's Site of Death of Sid Vicious
The five story apartment at 63 Bank Street made its mark into infamy on the evening of February 1, 1979. That evening a small celebration was being held for the return of 21-year-old John Simon Ritchie who had just been released on bail following a concert altercation two months prior and having been charged with the murder of his girlfriend Nancy Spungen just two months prior to that. Later that evening while enjoying a welcome-home gift of some heroin provided by his dear loving mother, young John went to sleep at 3am next to his new girlfriend Michele Robinson. A slumber from which John, better known to millions as Sid Vicious (bassist for the punk rock group the Sex Pistols), would never awake after having had overdosed on heroin.
John Ritchie had been born in South East London in 1957. He was given the nickname of Sid Vicious by former band mate John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten, lead singer for the Sex Pistols). After Ritchie was bitten by Lydon’s pet hamster, Sid, Lydon proclaimed that, “Sid is really vicious!” The two friends went on to form one of the most influential punk rock bands of all-time, the Sex Pistols. A band, mind you, which only lasted two and a half years and only ever released one full length studio album—Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the SexPistols.
The band broke up in January 1978 and in the ensuing months Vicious helped record some material for a film titled The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle. On the morning of October 12 of that same year, Vicious’ life took a turn for the worst when he awoke to find his girlfriend Nancy Spungen dead in the bathroom with a single stab wound to her stomach via a hunting knife owned by Vicious himself. With no recollection of the events of the night prior Vicious was a prime suspect himself. When he called the police upon discovery of Spungen’s body he even confessed, “I did it because I’m a dirty dog.” Vicious later retracted this statement claiming he actually had no memory of prior evening. Drug tests at the time of his arrest later confirmed that Vicious would have been incapable of the attack due to the excessive amount of sedatives within his body.
Whether Vicious performed the act or not, he never forgave himself for whatever transpired that evening. On February 1, 1979 Sid took his own life. A few days after his death, his mother found a suicide note in the pocket of his leather jacket stating that he and Nancy had a death pact and he asked to be burying next to her. In 2006 Vicious and his former band mates in the Sex Pistols were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, an event which the surviving members refused to attend calling the museum, “a piss stain.”
For more history regarding this site, including how you can visit this locale via one of our MP3 audio walking tours, check out our site here: iwalkedaudiotours.com/2012/06/iwalked-new-york-city%E2%80...
IWalked New York City's Site of Death of Sid Vicious
The five story apartment at 63 Bank Street made its mark into infamy on the evening of February 1, 1979. That evening a small celebration was being held for the return of 21-year-old John Simon Ritchie who had just been released on bail following a concert altercation two months prior and having been charged with the murder of his girlfriend Nancy Spungen just two months prior to that. Later that evening while enjoying a welcome-home gift of some heroin provided by his dear loving mother, young John went to sleep at 3am next to his new girlfriend Michele Robinson. A slumber from which John, better known to millions as Sid Vicious (bassist for the punk rock group the Sex Pistols), would never awake after having had overdosed on heroin.
John Ritchie had been born in South East London in 1957. He was given the nickname of Sid Vicious by former band mate John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten, lead singer for the Sex Pistols). After Ritchie was bitten by Lydon’s pet hamster, Sid, Lydon proclaimed that, “Sid is really vicious!” The two friends went on to form one of the most influential punk rock bands of all-time, the Sex Pistols. A band, mind you, which only lasted two and a half years and only ever released one full length studio album—Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the SexPistols.
The band broke up in January 1978 and in the ensuing months Vicious helped record some material for a film titled The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle. On the morning of October 12 of that same year, Vicious’ life took a turn for the worst when he awoke to find his girlfriend Nancy Spungen dead in the bathroom with a single stab wound to her stomach via a hunting knife owned by Vicious himself. With no recollection of the events of the night prior Vicious was a prime suspect himself. When he called the police upon discovery of Spungen’s body he even confessed, “I did it because I’m a dirty dog.” Vicious later retracted this statement claiming he actually had no memory of prior evening. Drug tests at the time of his arrest later confirmed that Vicious would have been incapable of the attack due to the excessive amount of sedatives within his body.
Whether Vicious performed the act or not, he never forgave himself for whatever transpired that evening. On February 1, 1979 Sid took his own life. A few days after his death, his mother found a suicide note in the pocket of his leather jacket stating that he and Nancy had a death pact and he asked to be burying next to her. In 2006 Vicious and his former band mates in the Sex Pistols were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, an event which the surviving members refused to attend calling the museum, “a piss stain.”
For more history regarding this site, including how you can visit this locale via one of our MP3 audio walking tours, check out our site here: iwalkedaudiotours.com/2012/06/iwalked-new-york-city%E2%80...