While so much of the Sex Pistols’ lore goes without repeating, in what is perhaps his most amazing accomplishment, McLaren developed a form of guerilla marketing that revolutionized the way we understand public relations. Conjuring memories of the New York Doll’s last days, McLaren cleverly released the Pistol’s “God Save The Queen” during Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee in 1977, while also planning a concert on the Thames, right outside Parliament. The show may have been quickly blitzed by police, but the infamy gained proved priceless.
     Following the Pistols’ disastrous demise, McLaren pursued a music career of his own, releasing several albums inflected with hip hop, sounds from Africa and the Caribbean, and even strains of the waltz. Among his biggest hits, “Buffalo Gals” has lived on, providing samples for songs by Mariah Carey and Eminem. More recently, McLaren gained some notoriety for the use of his song “About Her”, which appeared in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill Vol. 2. Meanwhile, in 2008, the NYC collective Creative Time showcased McLaren’s video project Shallow on MTV’s massive HD screen in Times Square. Shallow consisted of twenty-one “musical paintings”, which as he told Artforum, McLaren hoped to be “something that navigates what I’m obsessed by: the look of music and the sound of fashion.” And so, a man who at times was sorely hated by many shall now be sorely missed by all.