Social History — 1977
Badge, lapel badge
This badge depicts Sid Vicious, the bass player of the legendary London punk band the Sex Pistols. He was a school friend of the band's front man Johnny Rotten. Vicious, whose real name was Simon Ritchie, replaced the Pistols' original bass player Glen Matlock in February 1977 at Rotten's behest. That year saw the release of the Pistols' controversial single 'God Save the Queen', a song attacking the monarchy at the time of Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee.
The success of the Pistols' album 'Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols' catapulted Vicious to both international stardom and drug addiction. After killing his girlfriend Nancy Spungen at a New York hotel in 1979, Vicious died of a heroin overdose at the age of 21.
- Category:
- Social History
- Object ID:
- 83.146/18
- Object name:
- badge, lapel badge
- Object type:
- Artist/Maker:
- —
- Related people:
- Related events:
- Related places:
- Production date:
- 1977
- Material:
- plastic, metal
- Measurements/duration:
- D 54 mm (overall)
- Part of:
- —
- On display:
- —
- Record quality:
- 100%
- Part of this object:
- —
- Credit:
- —
- Copyright holder:
- digital image © London Museum
- Image credit:
- —
- Creative commons usage:
- —
- License this image:
To license this image for commercial use, please contact the London Museum Picture Library.