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Simon John Ritchie[a] (10 May 1957 – 2 February 1979), better known by his stage name Sid Vicious, was an English musician, best known as the bassist for the punk rock band Sex Pistols. Despite dying in 1979 at the age of 21, he remains an icon of the punk subculture; one of his friends noted that he embodied "everything in punk that was dark, decadent and nihilistic."[2]

Early life
Simon John Ritchie was born in Lewisham to John and Anne Ritchie (nee McDonald; later named Anne Beverley; 1936–1996).[4][1] Anne had dropped out of school and joined the British Army, where she met Ritchie's father, a guardsman at Buckingham Palace and a semi-professional trombone player on the London jazz scene. Shortly after Ritchie's birth, he and his mother moved to Ibiza, where they expected to be joined by his father, who did not appear and provided no financial support—Anne reportedly sold marijuana to get by.[5] With the help of the British Embassy in Spain, Anne returned to England and, in 1965, married Christopher Beverley, who died six months later of kidney failure. Anne and Ritchie settled in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, where they lived from 1965 to 1971, and where Ritchie attended Sandown Court School (now The Skinners' Kent Academy).[6][7][8] In 1971, the pair moved to Stoke Newington in Hackney, East London, where Ritchie attended Clissold Park School (now Stoke Newington School). At this time, Ritchie began using the name 'John Beverley'.[citation needed]

By 1973, Anne's life was consumed by her addiction to heroin, to the point where, as Ritchie's friend John Wardle claimed in a 2009 interview, Anne was unaware that her son was attending Kingsway College of Further Education (later known as Westminster Kingsway College). It served as a community and vocational school for students with difficulties. While at Kingsway, which he was likely attending to complete his O levels, Ritchie indicated to a counsellor that he was contemplating suicide. Wardle, who had accompanied Ritchie, at the time made light of the statement, feeling unequipped to deal with it. When Ritchie turned 16 that year, Anne kicked him out of her home. In a 1988 interview, Anne recalled: "I remember saying to him: 'It's either you or me, and it's not going to be me. I have got to try to preserve myself and you just fuck off.' He said: 'I've not got anywhere to go,' and I said: 'I don't care.' "[2]

In 1973, Ritchie met fellow Kingsway student John Lydon, who introduced him to his friends John Grey and John Wardle. All four, who became known locally as 'The Four Johns', quit school and began squatting in various dingey locations. Three of the four Johns would then take nicknames: Lydon nicknamed Ritchie "Sid Vicious" after Ritchie was bitten by Lydon's hamster Sid (named after Syd Barrett);[9] Lydon was dubbed "Johnny Rotten" by his bandmate, guitarist Steve Jones; and Ritchie nicknamed Wardle "Jah Wobble