Who is Nancy Spungen- Punk Groupie and Style Icon

There has been so much written about Nancy over the years it's hard for anyone who didn't know her to know what she must have been like. There's no denying that most people's recollections of her tend to be negative and she is variously described a self-destructive, whiny, stupid and as a bad influence -particularly on Sid.

Whilst it seems beyond doubt that she could be an extremely difficult person, it's worth remembering that some of the most negative comments about her come from friends of Sids who attribute the blame for his drug problems and self destructive behaviour to Nancy's influence. However it could be argued that Sid, himself from a troubled background, did not cope well with the pressures of fame, had begun to believe his own publicity and would have ended up a mess with or without Nancy. It's also worth noting that Nancy had quite obvious and severe mental health problems, which would probably not have been helped by her drug use.

Nancy was born into a well off suburban family in Philidelphia. Right from birth things weren't easy and Nancy was nearly choked by her umbilical cord during delivery. Her mother, Deborah Spungen claims Nancy was an exceptionally difficult baby who screamed constantly, a situation that got so bad Nancy's doctor prescribed a barbiturate for her when she was less than six months old.

Throughout her childhood Nancy was prone to violent outbursts and was expelled from school before being diagnosed as schizophrenic at fifteen years of age. After leaving home at seventeen having been expelled from university and fallen into petty theft and drug dealing Nancy moved to New York and began hanging round with various groups on the New York music scene, supporting herself by stripping and prostitution.

She left for London in 1977 where she met Vicious and their violent, chaotic, intense and drug fuelled relationship began soon after. There was concern about Nancy's influence on Sid almost from the start of their relationship, at one point the Sex Pistols management even attempted to kidnap her and send her back to the USA, a plot that was foiled by Nancy causing an almighty row.

In the aftermath of the Sex Pistols break up Sid and Nancy relocated to New York, booking into the Chelsea Hotel as Mr and Mrs John Ritchie. Nancy began to act as Sid's manager, replacing Malcom McLaren. Sid played a few gigs during this period but by this point their drug problems were so severe that their career prospects did not look good. Their relationship seems to have become increasingly violent at this point and many friends of the couple report feeling shock at the state they were in at this time.

Their relationship came to an abrupt and violent end when Nancy was found dead from a stab wound on their floor of their hotel bathroom. She was just twenty years of age.

All that is really known for certain about Nancy's death is that she died from a knife wound. Whilst Sid is widely thought to be responsible and had he lived would have stood trial for her murder, there is some evidence to suggest that he may not have been responsible. On the night she died Sid is belived to have taken a very high dose of sedative drugs and it's possible he was in not fit state to kill anyone. There are also questions raised by the fact that over twenty thousand dollars belonging to the couple was missing from the room. This leads some to belive that Nancy may have caught someone robbing their room and been stabbed during an altercation. There are other theories surrounding the death, with some claims that it may have been a suicide pact gone wrong or that Sid may have stabbed Nancy but without intending to kill her during one of their violent rows.

So if Sid was not responsible, who was? Two names have cropped up as possible suspects. There are claims that the couple's dealer "Rockets Redglare" confessed to friends that he was responsible for the murder. Others insist that he was not responsible but another man named Michael may in fact have been the killer. Some witnesses claim that a young Englishman who was staying at the hotel and had recently befriended the couple was responsible for Nancy's death. They claim he was seen with a large sum of money tied with one of Nancy's hair ties shortly after the murder and that he had been with the couple on the night Nancy was killed. He has since vanished, apparently without trace. It is now highly unlikely that the truth of what happened on that night will ever be established given how much time has elapsed and the subsequent deaths of both Sid and much later the other possible suspect "Rockets Redglare". The film "Who Killed Nancy?" by British director Alan G Parker examines some of the theories surrounding Nancy's death in depth.