SID VICIOUS, or Simon Ferocious as Freddy Mercury called him, would blend in at most d-beat and punk shows in 2024. It’s almost like his look became the iconic punk guy for the next 40 years and beyond. Fortunately, or unfortunately, he didn’t live to see it. From the sounds of his narcissistic personality, he would have both loved and lathed how much influence he had on future generations.
It’s said he killed cats, and he definitely self-harmed for the audience and the cameras. He loved to fight. The son of a drug-addicted mom, he fell to his own addictions. He may (or may not) have killed his equally disturbed girlfriend Nancy, but we’ll never know because he overdosed while on bail awaiting his trial in NYC.
He hung out with all the greats of the ’77 punk era, and almost got beat up by Freddy and Queen. They insist he was a moron. And still, I see at least a handful of Sid Vicious lookalikes at every punk show I go to. Human beings are fascinating, aren’t we.
All of this influence he cultivated by age 21, and then he flamed out to forever remain a villain. A cheeky one. Left behind in the ’70s to echo through generations of punk.
