Celebrity Graveland

January 22, 1946 – April 08, 2010

The history of popular culture – and counter-cultural music in particular – is riddled with provocateurs. Characters whose entire being longs to push boundaries and shock the system. Enter Malcolm McLaren.

Whether selling original clothes out of a dingy shop in Chelsea or building the foundational architecture of the punk rock subgenre of music, McLaren approached everything he did with a proverbial thumb in the eye of “The Man”.

His shop, Let It Rock (later Too Fast to Live Too Young to Die…and then…Sex), started as a military surplus store of sorts. Eventually, with the help of his artist girlfriend, they launched into original designs and modified vintage clothing. The store – in all of it’s iterations – was a success and was frequented by many players of London’s underground music scene. McLaren had musical aspirations himself and formed and managed a band of friends and regular customers and called it “Sex Pistols,” because of course he did. McLaren was the puppet master of the group adding members he thought would cause the biggest, most public backlash (and internal conflict). It was a massive and cataclysmic success.

The Pistols went on to international infamy with their groundbreaking and anarchic jabs at everything from the monarchy to other musicians. The band introduced the world to punk icons like Johnny Rotten and Sid Vicious. They had a monumental impact on rock and roll in the late 1970s and early ’80s.

McLaren took the Sex Pistols’ success with him across the pond where he became the manager of groups like Adam and the Ants, Bow Wow Wow and proto-glam rock band, New York Dolls.

Every relationship McLaren was in – personal and professional – was volatile. Lawsuits, tragedy, alleged murder…it was all there. Drama and chaos followed him everywhere…all according to his plan. His later career took wide swings at everything from film and television to the visual arts. He embraced the discord he sewed at every turn.

Malcolm died in 2010 after a battle with mesothelioma. He was buried in London’s Highgate Cemetery with the words “Too Fast to Live Too Young to Die” adorning his casket. His epitaph reads “Better a spectacular failure, than a benign success” neither of which, ironically, sum up his riotous life.

Burial

Highgate Cemetery East – London, UK

Specific Location

Enter the east section and follow the main road (Carriage Road) south.  Shortly after the intersection with Bay Path, Malcolm’s grave will be on your left. Maps are available at the information desk.

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