Topic: Sid Vicious

Sid Vicious (born Simon John Ritchie; 10 May 1957 – 2 February 1979) was an English musician best known as the bassist of the influential punk rock group Sex Pistols.

Sid Vicious was born Simon John Ritchie in London to John and Anne Ritchie. Anne was a hippie, whereas his father was a guard at Buckingham Palace. Shortly after his birth, John Ritchie left the family. Simon ("Sid") and his mother moved to the island of Ibiza. She married Christopher Beverley in 1965 before setting up a family home back in Kent. Sid had taken his stepfather's surname and became John Beverly.

His stepfather died six months later, and by 1968 Ritchie and his mother were living in a rented flat in Tunbridge Wells where he attended Sandown Court School. In 1971 the pair moved to Hackney in East London. He also spent some time living in Somerset where he was a pupil at Clevedon Secondary Modern.