EXCLUSIVE: Mick Jagger Thrust Back into Center of Claims He Paid Sid Vicious' Legal Fees Nearly 50 Years After Sex Pistol Junkie Was Accused Of Slaughtering Girlfriend Nancy Spungen By Knifing Her In Belly
Mick Jagger (center) has been thrust into the controversy over Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen's tragic case.
June 3 2025, Published 3:10 p.m. ET
The debate over whether or not Mick Jagger came to the defense of former Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious after he was charged with murder has taken a new twist, RadarOnline.com can confirm.
Fellow Sex Pistols member Johnny Rotten has hinted that he knows the truth.
Johnny Rotten was a guest on 'The Michael Anthony Show'
In 1978, Vicious was arrested for the alleged murder of girlfriend Nancy Spungen after she was found dead on the floor of the couple’s New York hotel room with a single stab wound to the stomach.
The drugged-up singer was arrested and charged with her murder but died of a heroin overdose four months later after being released on bail.
Now, Vicious' bandmate Johnny Rotten, whose real name is John Lydon, has confessed that should the case have gone to trial, Vicious would have had the support of the famed Rolling Stones legend.
Speaking with host Michael Anthony on his self-titled podcast, Rotten revealed: "I know that at the time, indirectly, Mick Jagger put up a lawyer to help Sid's case."
However, Rotten clarified the case was "too far gone."
Satisfaction for Jagger
Rotten confirmed Jagger helped pay Vicious' legal bills.
In an earlier interview, Rotten shared the Satisfaction singer will always have his respect for the gesture.
"For that, I have a good liking of Mick Jagger. There was activity behind the scenes from Mick Jagger, so I applaud him," he told The Daily Record in 2013. "He never used it to advance himself publicity-wise."
As for the alleged murder, Rotten has a different theory, with no love lost for the dead groupie: "Nancy Spungen was a hideous, awful person who killed herself because of the lifestyle and led to the destruction and subsequent death of Sid and the whole fiasco."
Rotten suggested Spungen had a drug problem of her own.
"Her death is all entangled in mystery," he continued. "It’s no real mystery, though. If you are going to get yourself involved in drugs and narcotics in that way, accidents are going to happen."
Spungen's Story
Jagger never sought fame or recognition for his gesture.
It was a theory he repeated on Anthony's show: "I don't know what went on (with Spungen's death), but if you're getting involved with heroin dealers and you're owing money, s--t's going to f--king happen – and in particular in New York."
On the night of 11 October 1978, Vicious and Spungen hosted a party in their hotel room but reportedly passed out early. The next morning, Spungen was found dead on the bathroom floor, with a knife wound to her abdomen.
The murder weapon was identified as a Jaguar K-11 hunting knife, which Spungen had purchased for Vicious a few days earlier.
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Sid and Nancy
Vicious was arrested and charged with killing Spungen.
Vicious was arrested and charged with second-degree murder. He told police that he and Spungen had argued that night but gave conflicting versions of what happened next, saying, "I stabbed her, but I never meant to kill her," then saying that he did not remember anything, then that Spungen had fallen onto the knife.
Rotten blamed the entire tragedy on Vicious' addiction to drugs.
"I tried to help Sid through all of that and feel a certain responsibility because I brought him into the Pistols thinking he could handle the pressure," he said. "He couldn’t. The reason people take heroin is because they can’t handle pressure. Poor old Sid."
