News

R.I.P. Malcolm McLaren, Former Sex Pistols Manager

4:01 p.m. · April 8, 2010 · by Max Burke

Malcolm McLaren, the legendary music impresario who managed the Sex Pistols has passed away from cancer. He was 64. Most outlets are reporting that McLaren has died at his home in New York City, however the New York Times reports, citing McLaren's partner Young Kim, that he has died in a hospital in Switzerland.

McLaren's career began in the 1970s, when he set up clothing shop Let It Rock (later re-named "Sex") on King's Road in London with partner Vivienne Westwood. After returning from a brief stint with the New York Dolls in America, McLaren went on to manage the Sex Pistols. His meticulous cultivation of the group's image and knack for notorious publicity stunts played a pivotal role in the Pistol's phenomenal early success and made the group synonymous with punk. A dispute over royalties led to a falling out between himself and the Pistols.

In addition to his famous management of the Sex Pistols, McLaren was a painter and solo musician in his own right, responsible for 1983's eccentric cult classic Duck Rock. McLaren remained active in music and other artistic endeavors up to the time of death and once defined his own job as "somehow or another, I remain permanently cool.”