History Made Every Day™

On this day in 1979, the trial opens for ex-Sex Pistol Sid Vicious, accused of murdering his girlfriend, Nancy Spungen in October 1978. He allegedly stabbed the 20-year-old go-go dancer, who was acting as his manager, leaving her to die while he went to a methadone clinic for his daily treatment for heroin addiction.

Vicious (born John Simon Ritchie) had been tagged to replace Sex Pistol bassist Glen Matlock in March 1977. The group formed the foundation of punk music; new bands imitating the British punkers' intensity and abrasiveness popped up around the United States as a reaction against tamer, mainstream rock.

The top-selling title song on the Sex Pistols' second record, "God Save the Queen"--which mocked Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee--was immediately banned from airplay in England. Unable to land bookings at any British concert hall, the Sex Pistols brought their music to the United States, where they were met with a blend of hostility and curiosity. Their concerts were often violent, and Vicious was renowned for vomiting on stage. They cursed on national television during a promotional campaign and were dumped by several record companies for their irreverence. But they nonetheless scored numerous hits in the United States and England, including "Pretty Vacant," "Something Else/Friggin' in the Riggin'," and "C'mon Everybody."

Immediately after a San Francisco concert on January 14, 1978, vocalist Johnny Rotten announced the band's breakup. Vicious launched a solo career, but heroin abuse tore his music career apart. It ended abruptly with his arrest in New York for Spungen's murder. Though he initially denied killing her, the district attorney's office later released an alleged confession. On February 2, 1979, the day after Vicious was freed from jail on bail, he attended a party at his new girlfriend's house, where he injected a lethal dose of heroin. He was 21. Still, his legacy lived on. "Sid Sings"--a live album recorded in New York-was released posthumously, and the critically acclaimed film Sid and Nancy was released in 1986, starring Gary Oldman as Vicious and Chloe Webb as Spungen.