Malcolm McLaren, the man who irreversibly changed the face of British music as manager of the Sex Pistols, died yesterday, aged 64.

He had suffered from cancer for some time and, despite a recent period of good health, his condition had deteriorated rapidly in recent days, according to his spokesman. He died in Switzerland yesterday morning and his body is expected to be flown home to be buried in Highgate cemetery, north London.

Those paying tribute to him last night included John Lydon, who poignantly signed his statement in the name of Johnny Rotten, the nom de guerre that the one-time enfant terrible used during his Sex Pistols days.

"For me Malc was always entertaining and I hope you remember that," he said. "Above all else he was an entertainer and I will miss him and so should you."

Young Kim, 38, McLaren's partner of 12 years, said he was diagnosed with mesothelioma – a rare form of cancer, last October. She explained: "He died in hospital in Switzerland today, he had been doing well up until recently, he was lucid, I spoke to him yesterday."

Describing him as the "ultimate postmodern artist", she added: "I think Malcolm recognised he had changed the culture, he saw he had changed the world."

"Everyone asks: 'Who was Malcolm McLaren?' Everything he did was groundbreaking, as an artist he carried on the link from Andy Warhol."

Born in north London in 1946, McLaren went to art school in the city before opening a clothes shop on the King's Road in Chelsea, London, with his then partner, Vivienne Westwood.

McLaren later said he opened the fashion store, originally called Let It Rock, for "the sole purpose of smashing the English culture of deception". The pair began specialising in rubber and leather fetish gear, infamously renaming the shop "Sex" and defining punk fashion for a new generation.

The designer, now Dame Vivienne, said last night that they had not been in touch for a long time but added: "When we were young and I fell in love with Malcolm, I thought he was beautiful and I still do. I thought he is a very charismatic, special and talented person. The thought of him dead is really something very sad."

Dame Vivienne said the couple's son, Joe Corre, co-founder of the lingerie brand Agent Provocateur, and Ben Westwood, her son from her first marriage, were with McLaren when he died.

Corre said last night :"He was the original punk rocker and revolutionised the world. He's somebody I'm incredibly proud of. He's a real beacon of a man for people to look up to."

While McLaren's business partnership with Westwood was to influence popular culture in its own right, it was his immersion into the world of music that secured his place in the annals of rock'n'roll history. During a visit to New York, where he wanted to set up a boutique, he briefly managed the New York Dolls.

Last night, Sylvain Sylvain, one of the original band members , described McLaren as a "visionary".

"Malcolm was the coolest cat I ever knew. I'm so sad at his passing," he said.

"He gave the world incredible music, incredible style. You can go to Beijing today and see punk shops, and that wouldn't have happened without Malcolm and Vivienne."

Back in London, McLaren was determined to start his own band and by 1976 was managing the Sex Pistols, the punk entity that revolutionised popular culture and introduced anarchy to the masses.

Music journalist Jon Savage, who wrote England's Dreaming, a history of punk and the Sex Pistols, said the movement could not have existed without McLaren.

"I hope he'll be remembered with fondness. He was a complex character, a contradictory character. He could be very charming, he could be very cruel, but he mattered and he put something together that was extraordinary."

Although the Sex Pistols failed to get to number one with God Save the Queen, which made it to number two during the week of Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee, lyrics like "God save the queen/She ain't no human being/And there's no future/In England's dreaming" ensured widespread outrage. And McLaren's stunts – such as sailing the band past the House of Parliament while performing their anarchist hits – ensured he was rarely out of the public eye.

On touring with the Sex Pistols, McLaren had said: "I had created a feeling that was both euphoric and hysterical. On that tour bus, you couldn't help but be aware of an enormous range of possibilities – that whatever was happening couldn't be predicted, that it was a movement towards a place unknown. We had the means now to start a revolution of everyday life."

McLaren, who had the band sign their record contract outside Buckingham Palace, had "showmanship in his blood", according to PR guru Mark Borkowski, who had worked with the impresario since the late 80s.

"It's the end of an era," he said last night. "Malcolm was a fantastic raconteur, with a brilliant and agile creative mind. He was the greatest part-publicist, part entertainer. Without him this seismic shift in the music would never have happened."

After the Sex Pistols split up, McLaren continued to put out unreleased material by the band. After a battle over loyalties in 1986, the band eventually received £1m in an out-of-court settlement.

But people would remember his achievements not his public spats, said Borkowski. "So much of what he did was groundbreaking in art, in fashion. What people will remember is the last great revolutionary of our times."

In later years, McLaren still could not resist stepping in and out of the public spotlight, threatening in 1999 to run for the London mayoralty on a policy platform that included selling alcohol in public libraries.

"My effect on London was to create the best and most profound statement of useful protest that has existed since the end of the last war, something that media labelled punk rock," he said at the time.McLaren's spokesman, Les Molloy, said that artist's family was "devastated" and "in shock". He said: "He had been doing very well, it's a sad day. I have spoken to his partner."