SiD ViCiOuS Early life

Early life

Sid Vicious was born John Simon Ritchie in Lewisham South East London to John and Anne Ritchie (née McDonald). His mother dropped out of school early due to a lack of academic success and went on to join the RAF, where she met her husband-to-be, Ritchie's father. His father was a guardsman at Buckingham Palace and a semi-professional trombone player on the London Jazz scene.^[3] Shortly after John's birth, he and his mother moved to the island of Ibiza, where they expected to be joined by John's father, who was supposed to support the family financially until he joined them; however, after the first few pay cheques never arrived, Anne realised that he would not be coming. Anne later married Christopher Beverley, a middle-class man in 1965, before setting up a family home back in Kent. John had taken his stepfather's surname and was known as John Beverley.^[4]

John's stepfather died six months later from cancer;^[4] and, by 1968 John and his mother were living in a rented flat inTunbridge 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.

John was given the nickname "Sid Vicious" by John Lydon (known as Johnny Rotten), after Lydon's pet hamster, Sid. The hamster had bitten Ritchie, who said that "Sid is really vicious!"^[5] The animal was described by Lydon as "the softest, furriest, weediest thing on earth."^[6] At the time, Ritchie was squatting with Lydon, Jah Wobble, and John Gray, and the four were colloquially known as "The Four Johns".

According to John Lydon, the two of them would often busk for money with Sid playing the tambourine. They would play Alice Cooper covers, and people gave them money to be quiet. Once a man gave them "three bob" (three shillings, i.e. 15p in decimal currency) and they all danced.^[7]

According to the band's photographer, Dennis Morris, John was "deep down, a shy person."^[8] However, he did assault NME journalist Nick Kent with a motorcycle chain with help from John Joseph Wardle (Jah Wobble).^[9] On another occasion, at The Speakeasy (a London nightclub popular with rock stars of the day) he threatened BBC DJ and Old Grey Whistle Test presenter Bob Harris.