Punk hero Malcolm McLaren succumbs to cancer

Apr 9 2010 by Chris Greenwood, The Journal

THE former manager of the Sex Pistols band, Malcolm McLaren, died in the United States yesterday following a protracted battle with cancer.

The 64-year-old died in the morning in his New York home after his condition suddenly worsened, spokesman Les Molloy said.

Family members were in “shock” and “devastated”, he added.

Mr Molloy said: “He had been doing very well, it’s a sad day. I have spoken to his partner.”

“Musical paintings” by Mr McLaren were shown at the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead. The exhibition ran from last December until earlier this year.

As well as the punk trail blazers, the Sex Pistols, Mr McLaren managed the US-band the New York Dolls and English band Bow Wow Wow. He made records himself too, including the popular Duck Rock album in 1983.

He first grabbed the media’s attention when, after leaving art school in the 1960s, he linked up with the then equally unknown Vivienne Westwood to open a shop in London’s Kings Road that sold fetish gear made of rubber and leather.

After first it was called Let It Rock , but after it was renamed Sex, the shop and the clothes it sold sparked the punk fashion revolution and catapulted its owners to national attention.