Sex Pistols

Along with their compatriots The Clash and the American Ramones, the Sex Pistols were a symbol of the punk rock movement that emerged in the second half of the 1970s. The group's origins began in 1972 in London, when young Steve Jones and Paul Cook decided to form a band, using the works of Roxy Music and David Bowie as musical references.

The project began to take shape when the two met Malcolm McLaren, who ran a "rocker" fashion boutique called Too Fast To Live, Too Young To Die with his partner, fashion designer Vivienne Westwood. She was responsible for defining the look of punk and new wave fashion at the time. Too Fast To Live, Too Young To Die, previously called Let It Rock, was renamed Sex in 1974. 

With McLaren as mentor and manager, the band's lineup consisted of Steve Jones (guitar, backing vocals), Paul Cook (drums), Glen Matlock (bass, backing vocals) and John Lydon (vocals). The lead singer was renamed Johnny Rotten due to dental problems. However, friction between Johnny Rotten and Matlock led to the bassist's departure from the band in 1977, midway through the recording process of their first album. Sid Vicious took his place. 

The band's first and only studio album, Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols, was released on October 28, 1977 by Virgin Records. Some record stores refused to carry it, but the album remained among the best-selling albums in the United Kingdom for over a year. 

Sex Pistols had a short life. Disagreements between the members and their manager, and Sid Vicious' heroin addiction, led to the end of the band after a show in San Francisco on January 14, 1978.

Sid Vicious was the most controversial member of the band. Known for his aggressive behavior, he moved to New York with his girlfriend Nancy Spungen after the end of the Pistols. On October 12, 1978, she was found dead with a stab wound to the abdomen in the bathroom of a hotel room after a party the night before. Vicious was found wandering the hallway still high on drugs. He was arrested as the main suspect in Nancy's death. Vicious was released on bail. The crime was never solved, and has always been the source of several theories.

Vicious died on February 2, 1979, of an overdose at the age of 21.