Nancy Spungen

Nancy Laura Spungen (February 27, 1958 – October 12, 1978) was the American girlfriend of Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious. Spungen has been the subject of controversy among music historians and fans of the Sex Pistols


Over the next few months, Vicious and Spungen spiraled into serious drug abuse, punctuated by reports of domestic violence. The end came on October 12, 1978, when Spungen was found sprawled on the bathroom floor of their hotel room clad in a black bra and panties. She had bled to death from a single stab wound to the abdomen, later traced to a knife owned by Vicious. This was reportedly a "007" hunting knife he had obtained after seeing Dee Dee Ramone give one to The Dead Boys' Stiv Bators. Vicious was immediately arrested for murder. There are several theories that Spungen was murdered by someone else, usually said to be one of the two drug dealers who visited the apartment that night, and involving a possible robbery as certain items (including a substantial bankroll) were claimed to be missing from the room. In his book, Pretty Vacant: A History of Punk, Phil Strongman names Spungen's alleged killer as actor and stand-up comic Rockets Redglare. Redglare had delivered 40 capsules of hydromorphone to the couple's room at the Chelsea Hotel the night Nancy was killed.

Also unusual was that Neon Leon had Sid's leather jacket and two gold records in his room. He said he had been given them by Sid for "safe keeping" the night of October 11/12, 1978

Nancy Spungen in pop culture
The hit song "Butterfly" by Crazy Town references Vicious and Spungen's relationship.
The song "Jessica" by Dir en grey mentions Vicious and Spungen.
The song "Ice Cream" by New Young Pony Club also briefly mentions Vicious and Spungen in the lyric, 'fantastic flavored fancies/ sick like Sid and Nancy/ wicked as a joyride jaunt'.
The song "Back Drop Nancy" by The Gazette features lyrics themed around Spungen.
The song "New College" by The Dollyrots mentions Vicious and Spungen's relationship.
The Ramones songs "I Don't Want to Live This Life (Anymore)" and "Love Kills".
The Joe Strummer song also titled "Love Kills", featured on the Sid & Nancy soundtrack, is about Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen.
The song "Love Kills" by Kasey Katz is a tribute to Nancy Spungen.
The Dar Williams song "Alleluia" refers to the film Sid and Nancy.
The song "Sid Vicious was innocent" by The Exploited.
The Ministry song "Just One Fix" features a sound clip of Chloe Webb from the film Sid and Nancy. ("Never trust a junkie.")
The song "Sid & Nancy" by the Russian rock band Lumen also refers to their story.
VH1 declared the incident one of the most shocking in rock and roll history.
The song "Sid & Nancy" by the Polish singer Robert Gawlinski
References to Sid and Nancy appear quite frequently in the anime and manga NANA by Ai Yazawa.
There are several references to Sid and Nancy in the TV show Gilmore Girls, including the suggestion that Lorelai Gilmore was going to name her (fictional) twin babies Sid and Nancy in the episode Crazy Lazy Hazy Days, the quote "Like I was holed up in the Chelsea with a needle sticking out of my arm screaming 'Sid!' at the top of my lungs" from the episode "Application Anxiety" (both in Season 3), Paris Geller explaining to her boyfriend Lane Kim was "Nancy Spungen-ing it" from A Family Matter, and in the episode aptly named "Nick and Nora/Sid and Nancy" Lorelai references a fight with Luke saying "This was not Nick and Nora, this was Sid and Nancy" (Season 2)
The song "Godspeed" by Anberlin on their album Cities contains references to Spungen's death.
The song "I Wanna Be A Narc" by Black Randy And The Metrosquad on their album "Pass The Dust, I Think I'm Bowie" contains the lyric, "Now Sid and Nancy think they're in a safe place. They'll soon know I'm still working on the case. I'll get secret keys to the Chelsea Hotel. And all the O.D.s, I'll extradite from Hell. Way down in the dark, I wanna be a Narc."
Nancy and Sid are portrayed by Lisa Simpson and Nelson Muntz in a Valentine's episode of The Simpsons "Love, Springfieldian Style". One major difference from the actual Sid and Nancy story is that the drugs were replaced with chocolate. The story also ends with Lisa and Nelson kissing, before anyone of them die.
Spungen's and Vicious' romance was the subject of an off-Broadway play and the 1986 Alex Cox film Sid and Nancy, in which Chloe Webb portrayed Spungen, opposite Gary Oldman as Vicious.
The song "Horror Business" by The Misfits is a reference to Spungen's death.
The song called "If I Die Will You Die?" by the Canadian punk band SNFU is about Vicious and Spungen's relationship.
The song "Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars" by Bon Jovi, which is about an unusual, off beat couple, has the line 'We're Sid and Nancy', followed by other famous couples such as Bonnie and Clyde and Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love.
In The Sounds song "Riot" are they singing in the bridge "And Sid is not that vicious, he killed his little mistress"
The song "Sid To Hakuchuumu" ("Sid and Daydreams") by Shiina Ringo is written as one of Sid's daydreams in which Nancy tells him how she feels. The last line translates as, "I forgive you for everything."