Nancy Spungen

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

Nancy Spungen was born February 27, 1958 to Frank and Deborah Spungen. The Spungens were a middle class Jewish family in the Huntingdon Valley area of Lower Moreland Township, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. Her father was a businessman and her mother owned a local health food store. She was premature by a month and half early and suffered from severe cyanosis. As a child she was hyperactive and reportedly exhibited violent behaviour towards her younger sister Susan (food editor at Martha Stewart) and her brother David. She is also alleged to have threatened to kill a babysitter and to have attacked her mother with a hammer during a disagreement over taking her to the museum. "I mean, honestly, who the hell does that?" Johnny Rotten had said. By age eleven she had been expelled from the public school system and was receiving psychotherapy. She reportedly attempted suicide several times and suffered from depression. Her family sent her to various residential facilities for disturbed children. She briefly attended the University of Colorado.

Spungen left home at age 17 and moved to New York City. She followed bands such as Aerosmith, The New York Dolls and The Ramones. She later worked as a stripper in New York City, which sometimes involved prostitution. She reportedly moved to London with the express purpose of winning over Jerry Nolan of the New York Dolls and The Heartbreakers but met The Sex Pistols instead. Lead singer Johnny Rotten introduced her to bassist Sid Vicious and they promptly moved in together.

During a rocky 11-month relationship Spungen and Vicious abused heroin and other drugs. Vicious was already an abuser of multiple drugs before he met Spungen but many sources claim she introduced him to heroin, other sources claim that he had begun to use heroin with his mother at an early age. The tabloids dubbed her Nauseating Nancy for reportedly frequent and public displays of drug-fueled verbal abuse and violence. Vicious' emotional dependence on her is said to have interfered with the Sex Pistols' performances and contributed to the band's breakup during their U.S. tour. Spungen and Vicious moved to the famous Hotel Chelsea in New York City where Vicious tried, with limited success, to continue his musical career.

Following accelerated drug abuse and 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. It is likely the details of Spungen's death will never be known, although in his book Pretty Vacant: A History Of Punk, Phil Strongman names her killer (and indeed, indirectly, Sid's) as Rockets Redglare. 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. While free on bail he made several remarks which were interpreted by some to be a confession. However, there was also an issue of a stolen bank roll and possible involvement of drug dealers. On February 2, 1979 Vicious died of a heroin overdose which has sometimes been described as suicide.

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.

• And I Don't Want to Live This Life (Deborah Spungen, Nancy's mother, 1983).

In this book, the title of which is taken from a poem written by Vicious after he allegedly murdered Spungen, Spungen's mother Deborah cited her daughter's medical records and revealed her daughter suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. This has been cited as a possible reason for her reported difficulties with relating socially to others. Some observers also believe she had borderline personality disorder.

• Rats by Veronica Schanoes, in the Interfictions anthology, 2007

This story is a punk rock fairy tale inspired by Spungen's life. The author says:

I wrote "Rats" because I was angry with the way the recent coffee-table histories of punk seem to have no problem demonizing a dead, mentally ill, teenage girl.

• The hit song "Butterfly" by Crazy Town references Vicious and Spungen's relationship.
• The song "Jessica" by Dir en grey also mentions Vicious and Spungen.
• The song "Back Drop Nancy" by The Gazette features lyrics themed around Spungen.
• The Ramones songs "I Don't Want to Live This Life (Anymore)" and "Love Kills" and the Joe Strummer song also titled "Love Kills" are 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 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.
• There is a New Zealand punk group called Stabbing Nancy. Another New Zealand band goes by the name Dead Vicious.
• There is a rock band from Cagayan de Oro, Philippines called Nuncyspungen.
• The song "Sid & Nancy" by the Polish singer Robert Gawlinski
• In Nathan Barley, Dan Ashcroft answers the buzzer using the name Nancy Spungen.
• References to Sid and Nancy appear quite frequently in the anime and manga "NANA" by Ai Yazawa.
• The song "Sid Vicious was innocent" by The Exploited.
• There are several references to Nancy Spungen and Sid and Nancy in the TV show Gilmore Girls, including the suggestion that Lorelai was going to name her (fictional) twin babies Sid and Nancy, and 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).
• The spoken part under the intro of the song "While You're Waiting" by the Alkaline Trio is lead singer Matt Skiba reading from a newspaper article published about Spungen's murder.
• The song Swords and Knives taken from the Sowing the Seeds of Love album by Tears for Fears was written about Nancy.
• The song "Godspeed" by Anberlin on their album Cities, contains references to Nancy's death.
• The song "Chelsea Hotel Oral Sex Song" by Jeffrey Lewis makes reference to Nancy & Sid.
• The song "Horror Business" by The Misfits was written about Nancy's Murder

• Photos of Nancy's gravestone in King David Cemetery, Bensalem, Pennsylvania