Tom Verlaine

Tom Verlaine, a founder, lead vocalist and guitarist for '70s N.Y. rock band Television, has died. He was 73 years old.

After the “Television” reunion album and the instrumental set “Warm and Cool” in 1992, he opted out on recording for nearly a decade and a half. In the studio, and on tour, he frequently served as accompanist to former paramour Patti Smith, and appeared on her albums “Gone Again” (1996), “Gung Ho” (2000), “Twelve” (2007) and “Banga” (2012). But, despite the fact that Television gelled into one of the most formidable live acts on the scene, neither the debut LP nor its successor “Adventure” managed to enter the American charts, and the group dissolved within weeks of the end of its 1978 U.S. (Some of Hell’s songs for Television were heard on “Blank Generation,” the 1977 debut by his band the Voidoids.) With Blondie’s original bassist Fred Smith enlisted to replace Hell, the band recorded a storming seven-minute track that was issued across two sides of a single released by Ork on his eponymous label in September 1975. “Up until then, the guitar was a stupid instrument to me,” he recalled in a 2001 interview with Mojo. But the New York Dolls’ glam scene inspired the pair to form a band, the Neon Boys, with Meyers on bass and Ficca recruited as the drummer. The two became close friends, and made an attempt to run away to Florida that was squelched by the police in Alabama. In 1963, he took up the saxophone after gravitating to the music of jazz avant gardists Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Roland Kirk and Albert Ayler. In 2007, Lloyd was replaced in the touring unit by Jimmy Ripp, who had for many years supported Verlaine on his solo albums and tours. A love of symphonic music led him to the piano as a child. It was a revelation and I was hoping my Jazzmaster could somehow channel his when I played the solo on ‘Halloween’ on the first Dream Syndicate album.

He first attracted attention with the band Television, a fixture of the New York punk rock scene. But his music wasn't so easily categorized.

Hell was replaced by Fred Smith in 1975 and later went on to form the punk band Richard Hell and the Voidoids. The layered, often ethereal sound that Mr. After they moved to New York, they formed a band, the Neon Boys, which in 1973 evolved into Television, with Richard Lloyd on second guitar, Mr. Although Television achieved only minor commercial success and broke up after recording two albums, Mr. Mr. He was 73.

The founding father of American punk and a fixture in the 1970s New York rock scene died Saturday as the result of a brief illness.

"Tom and I had an hysterically funny conversation that lasted the last 42 years," guitarist and Television member Jimmy Rip wrote in a statement to NPR. "He was blindingly smart, incredibly well read as well as surreally silly! "I met Tom when I was a child, not long after my dad passed away," Jesse Paris Smith wrote in a statement to NPR. Verlaine developed a cult following throughout his career, but never quite achieved mainstream status and eschewed the limelight. Verlaine thought for a moment before offering his preferred self-deprecating epigram: 'Struggling not to have a professional career.' " Born Thomas Miller in Denville, N.J., Verlaine grew up in Wilmington, Del.

Patti Smith and Billy Idol were among those to pay tribute to punk godfather and Television frontman Tom Verlaine, who died at age 73 on Sunday.

[Billy Idol](https://people.com/music/billy-idol-honored-star-hollywood-walk-of-fame/) penned in a tribute: "Sad 2 hear of @TELE_VISION_TV #tomverlaine passing today. Over the years, he collaborated with several big names in rock music. The group quickly disbanded before reforming months later as Television and adding guitarist Richard Lloyd. "He had long hair and came to my apartment with an acoustic guitar and played some songs he'd written," Stein, 73 continued. Smith, 76, shared an old black-and-white photo of the two of them on Instagram. Many paid tribute to Verlaine on social media, following the news of his death.

Tom Verlaine, an iconic punk guitarist known as the front man for the band Television, has died at the age of 73, according to Patti Smith's daughter, ...

[Patti Smith](https://www.vulture.com/article/patti-smith-a-book-of-days-photography-instagram.html), Smashing Pumpkins’s Tony Garnier, and Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo and Steve Shelley. He frequently worked closely with [Smith](https://www.vulture.com/2022/10/patti-smith-rock-and-roll-n-r-removed-streaming-services.html), including on her Grammy-nominated single “Glitter in Their Eyes” and “Fireflies.” Verlaine, alongside Sonic Youth’s Ranaldo and Shelley, Wilco’s Nels Cline, Garnier, Smokey Hormel, and John Medeski, made up the super-group Million Dollar Basher, creating music that appeared in Dylan’s biographical film, I’m Not There. [Tom Verlaine](https://www.vulture.com/2007/06/tom_verlaine_stops_bitching_lo_1.html), an iconic punk guitarist known as the front man for the band [Television](https://www.vulture.com/2015/12/televisions-richard-lloyd-will-teach-you-guitar.html), has died at the age of 73, according to Patti Smith’s daughter, [Jesse Paris Smith](https://www.instagram.com/p/Cn-gFLpvikB/?hl=en). Joined by [Richard Hell](https://www.vulture.com/2015/11/new-york-punk-then-and-now-godlis-ork.html), they first formed the group the Neon Boys before later transforming into Television. [The New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/28/arts/music/tom-verlaine-dead.html) Verlaine collaborated with many artists like