The Sex Pistols

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The Sex Pistols

by Peter Vernon
modern bromide print from original negative, 1976
12 1/4 in. x 17 7/8 in. (310 mm x 455 mm)
Purchased, 1999
Photographs Collection
NPG x88356

On display in Room 28 on Floor 2 at the National Portrait Gallery

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Artistback to top

  • Peter Vernon (1946-), Photographer. Artist or producer of 1 portrait.

This portraitback to top

The anarchic proto-Punk group were gathered by boutique-owner, entrepreneur Malcolm McLaren in 1975 and courted notoriety with their excessive behaviour; Matlock was replaced in 1977 by Sid Vicious who died of a heroin overdose in New York two years later. Taken by EMI's official photographer at the entrance to the firm's car park after the Sex Pistols signed their short-lived contract.

Linked publicationsback to top

  • 100 Photographs, 2018, p. 101 Read entry

    The members of the anarchic punk-rock group The Sex Pistols - Steve Jones (b.1955), Glen Matlock (b.1956), Johnny Rotten (John Lydon, b.1956) and Paul Cook (b.1956) - were brought together by boutique-owner and entrepreneur Malcolm McLaren in 1975. Matlock was replaced in 1977 by Sid Vicious (John Ritchie), who died of a heroin overdose in New York two years later. The band courted notoriety with their excessive behaviour. This spontaneous expression of punk was captured by EMI’s official photographer, Peter Vernon (b.1946), at the entrance to the firm’s car park after The Sex Pistols signed their short-lived contract. It appeared on the band’s bootleg album The Filth and the Fury after its use in the Daily Mirror under the same headline, following their infamous appearance with presenter Bill Grundy on Thames Television’s regional news programme Today in December 1976.

  • Hoare, Philip; Pepper, Terence, Icons of Pop, 1999 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 4 June -19 September 1999), p. 47

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Events of 1976back to top

Current affairs

Harold Wilson unexpectedly resigns as Prime Minister and is replaced by Leonard James Callaghan. Wilson's resignation honours list caused controversy due to the appearance of a number of wealthy businessmen whose principles were considered anathema to those of the party. It became known as the 'Lavender List' after it was alleged that it was drafted by Marcia Williams, the head of Wilson's political office, on lavender-coloured notepaper.

Art and science

The first commercial Concorde flights are made, operated by British Airways and Air France. The supersonic (faster than the speed of sound) aeroplane was developed through a British and French treaty, and operated until 2003 when it was retired due to falling passenger numbers following a crash in 2000.
The National Theatre opens on the South Bank in London under the artistic directorship of Lord Olivier.

International

North Vietnam invades and overpowers South Vietnam, reunifying the country as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam under communist rule.
240,000 people die in the Tangshan Earthquake in China; one of the greatest death tolls from an earthquake in history. The event was part of the 'Curse of 1976', a year that also saw the death of Mao Zedong, and the attempted seizure of power by the Gang of Four.

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