Tom Verlaine was 73
Tom Verlaine died in New York "after brief illness," Jesse Paris Smith, the daughter of Verlaine and punk-poet laureate Patti Smith, told The New York Times, without specifying a cause of death.
5 Facts About American Guitarist
- Tom Verlaine, the influential frontman of the band 'Television' emerged from the New York punk rock underground in the late 1970s with seminal album "Marquee Moon".
- Born Thomas Miller, Verlaine adopted his last name from the French poet Paul Verlaine, whose lyricism he tried to infuse into his song-writing, while playing guitar in a style both ethereal and aggressive, AFP reported.
- The guitarist went to high school with fellow punk icon Richard Hell, and together they founded Television in 1973 alongside guitarist Richard Lloyd. Its 1977 debut "Marquee Moon" is "one of the greatest albums of the punk era," according to Rolling Stone magazine.
- Though "Marquee Moon" received critical acclaim from the likes of Rolling Stone, NME and Pitchfork, Television was only a minor commercial success.
- After two albums, the band dissolved and Mr Verlaine released a dozen solos, while collaborating with many artists, such as Smith and David Bowie.
