April 8, 2010. Just heard, couldn't quite believe it. Malcolm McLaren died today.

From the NY Times blog:

2:45 p.m. | Updated
Malcolm McLaren, the impresario, promoter and self-promoter who once claimed to have invented punk rock, and who assembled and managed the youthful, unruly members of the Sex Pistols, the breakthrough British punk band, has died. He was 64. His companion of many years, Young Kim, confirmed that Mr. McLaren died on Thursday, and said that he died of mesothelioma at a hospital in Switzerland.

The New York Dolls in their McLaren incarnation

In the 1970s, Mr. McLaren returned to his native London from New York, where he had briefly managed the New York Dolls in the waning days of that band’s career. With his business partner and girlfriend at the time, Vivienne Westwood, they renamed their clothing shop Sex, and Mr. McLaren set about putting together his own rock act of untested British youth, which became the Sex Pistols.

Fronted by John Lydon — whose repugnant appearance and Irish background earned him the stage name Johnny Rotten — with Steve Jones (guitar), Paul Cook (drums) and Sid Vicious (a bassist who replaced original member Glen Matlock), the Sex Pistols terrified traditional music sensibilities with songs like “Anarchy in the U.K.” and “God Save the Queen,” and fueled Mr. McLaren’s flair for over-the-top spectacle: he arranged for the band to sign its contract with A&M Records outside Buckingham Palace, and organized a private boat performance of their “God Save the Queen” on the Thames that was quickly shut down by the police, cementing the group’s rebellious reputation.

As a solo artist, Mr. McLaren released genre-defying albums like “Duck Rock” in 1983 and “Waltz Darling” in 1989, and remained a perennial presence in the worlds of art and fashion.

From the Entertainment Weekly blog:

New York Dolls frontman David Johansen has issued the following statement to EW.com in response to the death of Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren, who briefly managed the Dolls before their breakup in 1976:

“Malcolm McLaren was such a marvelous amalgam of exuberation, sensuality, culture, and literacy salted with the essential recognition of his own rascality. He was the perfect preservation against stuffiness and a lack of humanity. We are going to miss him.”

Sex Pistols frontman Johnny Rotten, a.k.a. John Lydon, has issued a statement of condolence on the death today of the Pistols’ manager Malcolm McLaren. “For me Malc was always entertaining, and I hope you remember that,” Rotten said in a statement provided by his reps. “Above all else he was an entertainer and I will miss him, and so should you.”