Malcolm McLaren, Sex Pistols manager, dies at 64 of cancer

Malcolm McLaren, former manager of The Sex Pistols and legendary impresario of the punk fashion/music movement, died Thursday at age 64, according to multiple reports.

McLaren had fought cancer for some time. His body will be flown from Switzerland home to London, where he'll be buried in Highgate cemetery.

McLaren was best known as the manager of The Sex Pistols. He and the band achieved notoriety in May 1977 when the Pistols' single "God Save The Queen," released during Queen Elizabeth's silver jubilee, was banned by the BBC.

He'd hired a boat to take the band down the Thames river, performing the song during the week-long silver jubilee festivities. The police stopped the boat. McLaren was arrested. The song hit the No. 2 spot in Britain. Genius.

Born in 1946 in North London, he was raised by his grandmother. He left home in his teens, attending and getting expelled from several art colleges. In 1971, he opened Let It Rock, a boutique on London's King's Road, with designer Vivienne Westwood.

In 1975 McLaren renamed the store SEX and offered S&M clothes. That was the same year he met John Lydon, aka Johnny Rotten.

The Pistols broke up in 1978 after a U.S. tour and all accused McLaren of mismanagement. The band's rise and fall was chronicled in Julien Temple's movie "The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle."

Farewell, Malcolm. RIP, rock on and thanks for the memories. Say hi to Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen and all the rest of the punks.



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