fbpx

Punk impresario Malcolm McLaren dies at 64

Malcolm McLaren, the Jewish punk impresario who launched the Sex Pistols upon an unsuspecting world, has died.
[additional-authors]
April 9, 2010

Malcolm McLaren, the Jewish punk impresario who launched the Sex Pistols upon an unsuspecting world, has died.

McLaren, 64, died Thursday at a Swiss hospital of mesothelioma, a cancer, news media reported.

He was raised by his maternal grandmother, Rose Isaacs, a member of London’s venerable Sephardic community. He often quoted her as saying “To be bad is good, and to be good is boring.”

In the early 1970s, he and his then-partner, Vivienne Westwood, ran a clothing boutique and were part of that city’s bleak, nihilistic arts scene.

In 1975, he brought together the Sex Pistols, a group that emphatically—sometimes violently—eschewed the forms and function of pop music. The group’s songs and albums—including “God Save the Queen,” which savaged the monarch as a fascist—were banned, which was the point.

The band broke up in 1978, and its members and McLaren spent the next decade mired in lawsuits over ownership of the music and the name.

McClaren backed other bands and recorded music himself, dabbling in early experiments with hip-hop and techno.

Did you enjoy this article?
You'll love our roundtable.

Editor's Picks

Latest Articles

Difficult Choices

Jews have always believed in the importance of higher education. Today, with the rise in antisemitism across many college campuses, Jewish high school seniors are facing difficult choices.

All Aboard the Lifeboat

These are excruciating times for Israel, and for the Jewish people.  It is so tempting to succumb to despair. That is why we must keep our eyes open and revel in any blessing we can find.  

More news and opinions than at a
Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.