Tom Verlaine dies at 73

Tom Verlaine, frontman and guitarist in iconic NYC band Television, has died at age 73. The news was shared by Jesse Paris Smith who said he died after “a brief illness.”

Teenage friends with Richard Hell, they both moved to New York around the same time and played in groups together before forming Television with guitarist Richard Lloyd and became regular performers at CBGB’s and other NYC clubs. (Hell would leave to form the Voidoids in 1975.) The unique guitar interplay between Verlaine and Lloyd, and Verlaine’s reedy vocal style would be Televsion’s signature elements found on their classic debut album, 1977’s Marquee Moon, one of the most influential albums of the era. Television broke up not long after the release of their second album, 1978’s Adventure, but reformed briefly in the early ’90s and then again in 2001, remaining active since.

Rest in peace, Tom.