Sid Vicious (born John Simon Ritchie) was an English bassist and vocalist, most famous as a member of the influential punk rock band the <a href="/c/books/credit/36919/Sex-Pistols/">Sex Pistols</a>.
As the Sex Pistols were gaining attention, Vicious met <a href="/c/books/credit/518403/nancy-spungen/">Nancy Spungen</a>, and the couple began a relationship which culminated in Spungen's death from an apparent stab wound while staying in New York City's Hotel Chelsea with Vicious. Under suspicion of murder, Vicious was released on bail; he was arrested again for assaulting Todd Smith, brother of Patti Smith, at a nightclub, and underwent drug rehabilitation on Rikers Island. He died in 1979 after overdosing on heroin.
