A TV host's on-air clash with the Sex Pistols in 1976 destroyed his career, launched punk rock into the mainstream, and became the most requested TV clip ever.
Bill Grundy was born in Manchester in 1923, the son of a foreman at Gorton Locomotive Works. He studied geology at the University of Manchester and initially worked as a geologist while moonlighting as a journalist and TV newsreader for Granada Television.
On December 1, 1976, Queen cancelled their appearance on Grundy's regional London show Today because Freddie Mercury needed emergency dental surgery. The Sex Pistols were booked as last-minute replacements — a decision that would make television history.
During the live interview, Grundy goaded the band into swearing on air. When guitarist Steve Jones called him a 'dirty fucker' and a 'dirty bastard,' Grundy sarcastically replied 'What a clever boy!' — all broadcast uncensored during the early evening timeslot.
The chaos began escalating when Grundy flirted with Siouxsie Sioux from the band's entourage, asking 'We'll meet afterwards, shall we?' Steve Jones interpreted this as a sexual advance on the young woman and began hurling insults at the host.
Though Today was only a regional London programme, tabloid coverage turned the incident into a national sensation. Grundy was suspended for two weeks, and the show was cancelled two months later. Thames TV's head of programming called it 'a gross error of judgment.'
In a 2008 poll by FremantleMedia (Thames' parent company), the Sex Pistols interview was voted the most requested TV clip ever — proof that the two-minute meltdown had become an indelible moment in British cultural history.
Before the infamous interview, Grundy had a respected career at Granada Television. He anchored a late-night news special on the night of JFK's assassination, produced episodes of World in Action, and helped create Granada's first colour production.
Grundy's career never recovered from the Sex Pistols incident. He was reduced to presenting Sunday morning book reviews and regional shows in the North West. In 1986, he was invited to compere a festival celebrating the anniversary of the Sex Pistols — a winking nod to his role in punk history.
Grundy died of a heart attack in a Stockport nursing home on February 9, 1993, aged 69. His colleague Michael Parkinson remembered him as 'a superb forensic interviewer' whose career was ultimately overwhelmed by drink.