Richard Lloyd, guitarist of Television and a figure of the New York punk scene, dies at 75
The musician had bile duct cancer and died at home in Tennessee; the band recorded the 1977 classic 'Marquee Moon'.
Translated from the Portuguese original by the Panorama newsroom. Read in Portuguese
Summary written by the Panorama newsroom from the sources listed below. Facts are attributed to the original publications.
American guitarist Richard Lloyd, of Television, died this Saturday (7), at age 75, at his home in the state of Tennessee, in the United States, Folha reported. According to a family statement cited by The New York Times, the cause was bile duct cancer diagnosed in March.
Formed in 1973, Television was among the pioneers of the scene that emerged around CBGB, the New York club that became a landmark of American punk and that also hosted the Ramones, Blondie and Talking Heads. The band had Tom Verlaine on vocals and guitar, Richard Hell on bass, Billy Ficca on drums and Lloyd on second guitar.
Instead of the short, simple-chord songs common in the movement, the group favored angular rhythms, jazz influences and long improvisations, highlighted by the interplay between Lloyd's and Verlaine's guitars. Its debut, 'Marquee Moon', from 1977, became a rock classic; the second album, 'Adventure', came out in 1978. Neither was a major commercial success in the US, but artists such as R.E.M., Sonic Youth, U2 and Pavement acknowledged the band's importance.
Born Richard John Alt in Pittsburgh in 1951, Lloyd grew up in New York and started playing guitar at age seven. He left Television in 1978, amid conflicts with Verlaine and worsening drug addiction, and the following year released 'Alchemy', the first of his nine solo albums.
The group reunited in the early 1990s, released a new album in 1992 and returned to the stage, including at the Glastonbury festival in England and in a few shows in Brazil. Lloyd is survived by his wife, Sheila O'Keefe Lloyd, his son, Dylan, and his brother, Eric.