Television frontman and celebrated guitarist Tom Verlaine has died at age 73 after a brief illness. Jesse Paris Smith, daughter of NYC punk icon Pattie Smith, broke the news earlier today on Instagram with a touching tribute to the influential artist.
Birth name Thomas Miller, Verlaine was born in New Jersey in 1949 before relocating to Delaware, where he spent the majority of his adolescence. Growing up, Verlaine felt called to New York City’s lively art scene and in 1968, he moved to the city to pursue music. In New York, he started going by his stage name, inspired by French poet Paul Verlaine, and in 1972, he started his first band with school friend Richard Hell (born Richard Meyers) and drummer Billy Ficca. The band would be reborn as Television the following year after guitarist Richard Lloyd joined the lineup.
As Television, they would release their seminal album Marquee Moon in 1977 to widespread critical acclaim and would help define the emerging punk movement of the time. They soon followed up their debut album with the comparatively laid-back Adventure in 1978 before breaking up. In 1992, the band would temporarily reform and release a new studio album simply titled Television.
After the dissolution of Television, Verlaine embarked on a solo career and released his first album as a soloist in 1979. He proved to be a prolific songwriter and musical artist, releasing six full length albums in the 1980s and 1990s. In 2006, he released the albums Songs and Other Things and Around after taking a break from music.
Verlaine collaborated with other artists in the punk scene like David Bowie and Patti Smith, who he dated for a period in the ’70s. The two continued to work together for decades, with Verlaine playing the entirety of an anniversary concert of Smith’s debut album Horses in 2005. Up until his death, Verlaine continued to play live shows.
His distinctive guitar style influenced many guitarists throughout the years; Verlaine was known in particular for his usage of vibrato and purposefully slower guitar riffs, a style writer Annie Zaleski describes as “precise yet defiant” in a tweet about the legendary musician’s passing.
Rest in peace.
