10 May: Sid Vicious

Sid Vicious was born on this date in 1957. Some things you might not know about the punk rocker.

1. His birth name was John Simon Ritchie; when his mother married his step-father he took the name John Simon Beverley.
2. The nickname came from a hamster belonging to John Lydon, which bit John Ritchie, who said, "Sid is really vicious!"
3. Vicious replaced Glen Matlock in the Sex Pistols in 1977. Before this he had been the drummer for Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Flowers of Romance.
4. He was supposed to be the bassist, but wasn't very good at playing the Guitar. His bandmates disliked his playing so much that they would sometimes unplug his amplifier when they were on stage; and another bassist played on the band's albums.
5. Chrissie Hynde once tried to persuade him to marry her so she could get a UK work permit.
6. He was to audition as lead singer for The Damned, but failed to turn up for the audition.
7. Manager Malcolm McLaren said of him, "if Johnny Rotten is the voice of punk, then Vicious is the attitude."
8. It was Sid Vicious who started the "pogo" jumping dance move.
9. Vicious was charged with the murder of his girlfriend, Nancy Spungen after she was found in the bathroom of their hotel room with a single stab wound.
10. He died of a heroin overdose before he could stand trial. His mother, before she died, claimed to have killed him by administering the dose. Whether or not he asked her to kill him is unknown. A few days after Vicious' cremation, his mother allegedly found a suicide note in the pocket of his jacket, which read, "We had a death pact, and I have to keep my half of the bargain. Please bury me next to my baby. Bury me in my leather jacket, jeans and motorcycle boots Goodbye."