Malcolm McLaren Dead At 64

The greatest culture appropriator in pop music, Malcolm McLaren, died of cancer in NYC today at the age of 64.

UDPATE: The location of McLaren's death was actually Switzerland, not NYC as was first reported.

“He had been suffering from cancer for some time, but recently had been full of health, which then rapidly deteriorated,” McLaren’s spokesman Les Molloy told The Independent. Molloy confirmed McLaren died in New York this morning; his body will be moved to London for burial in Highgate Cemetery. An icon of the punk movement that swept Great Britain in the mid-Seventies, McLaren got his start as a fashion designer who opened up a clothing shop with Vivienne Westwood called Let It Rock. While in New York City to start up a new boutique, he became the New York Dolls manager, a role he held until their breakup in 1976. After working with the Dolls and returning to London, McLaren wanted to start up his own band — the misfit group of punks would later be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as the Sex Pistols.

While I did and do still adore the Sex Pistols, with all the nonsense and hype laden upon them by McClaren, some of my favorite songs of all time are from his solo work. A sampling is below.