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Punk legend Jordan – aka Pamela Rooke – has died

Punk legend Jordan (aka Pamela Rooke) has died aged 66, her family have confirmed.

In a statement, her family revealed that Rooke “died peacefully a stone’s throw away from the sea in her home town of Seaford, East Sussex in the company of her loving family at 9pm” last night (April 3).

“Jordan (Pamela Rooke) has left her mark on this planet, whether it be as ‘The Queen of Punk’, or for her veterinary work and countless prize winning cats,” the family continued. “She lived life to the full and was true to herself and others throughout the whole of her life. She was totally trusted and respected by all those who knew her.

“Jordan was a blessed rare individual indeed. She did not want any speculation regarding her passing, and wished for the world to know that after a short period of illness, she succumbed to a relatively rare form of cancer known as cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer).”

“Jordan was a wonderful woman and will be remembered for countless decades to come,” her family added.

Rooke was a model who worked with Vivienne Westwood and helped create the W10 London punk look alongside Johnny Rotten, Soo Catwoman and Siouxsie Sioux.

She also attended several early Sex Pistols concerts and can be seen in Julien Temple’s The Great Rock & Roll Swindle, appearing on stage with the Sex Pistols during their first live television performance of ‘Anarchy In The UK’ in August 1976.

Jordan will be played by Maisie Williams in Pistol, Danny Boyle’s forthcoming TV series about the Sex Pistols.

Later in the ‘70s, Jordan managed Adam & The Ants and provided vocals on the track ‘Lou’, written about Lou Reed. She often joined the group onstage to perform the track, before she left the group in 1978. She went on to manage Wide Boy Awake in the 1980s.

She eventually became a veterinary nurse and bred Burmese cats.

A number of people have taken to social media to pay tribute to the punk icon, including Glen Matlock. You can see the tributes below.

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A post shared by Glen Matlock (@glenmatlock1)

TV host Jonathan Ross honoured the icon by describing her as “an amazing woman,” adding: “She changed our world. And she loved cats. So sad she’s gone.”

Captain Sensible of The Damned meanwhile, shared: “It was a bit of a shocker to find out today that Sussex punk gigs will be a little less glamorous in future without the fabulous presence of #Jordan Mooney. I’ll raise a glass (or two) in the great lady’s honour tonight.. there was simply nobody quite like her – cheers me dear!”

Journalist Simon Price shared in the mourning, describing her as “one of the loveliest people you could hope to meet” with “a brilliant laugh, and far more punk than so many of the charlatans who milked that movement in their rise to fame and fortune.”






Writer, musician and activist John Robb agreed that the world would “miss her”, hailing Jordan as “punk rock public enemy number one and maybe the fifth Sex Pistol”.

“Malcolm and Vivienne missed a move by not having her as part of the band who, despite all their wild genius were still four blokes against the world,” he wrote. “Imagine if they had added Jordan to the mix just standing their dominatrix cool staring down the maelstrom with her impeccable cool.”

This is a developing story…