RIP Richard Lloyd

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Richard Lloyd, the influential guitarist and co-founder of Television, one of the defining bands of New York's early punk scene, died yesterday at his home in Chattanooga, Tenn. He was 75. 

Lloyd had been diagnosed with bile duct cancer earlier this year. According to a family statement shared with Rolling Stone, his wife, Sheila, and their dog, Willie Mays, were by his side. 

Born Richard John Alt in Pittsburgh in 1951, Lloyd moved to New York with his mother shortly afterward and grew up in Greenwich Village. He took up guitar at an early age, attended concerts at the Fillmore East as a teenager and studied at Stuyvesant High School before dropping out. 

After brief stays in Boston and Los Angeles, Lloyd returned to New York and became involved in the emerging downtown music scene. Through Terry Ork, he connected with Tom Verlaine, Richard Hell and Billy Ficca, who had been playing together as the Neon Boys. 

With Lloyd joining on guitar, the group became Television. The band became a fixture at CBGB on the Bowery, alongside Patti Smith, the Ramones and other artists who helped shape New York's punk scene. (Hell departed in 1975 and was replaced by Fred Smith, formerly of Blondie.) 

Television signed with Elektra Records in 1976 and released its debut album, Marquee Moon, in February 1977. Although it wasn't a major commercial success in the United States, the album became a landmark of the era, particularly for the intricate interplay between Lloyd's and Verlaine's guitars. The band found greater commercial success in the United Kingdom. 

After Television's initial breakup in 1978, Lloyd pursued a solo career, beginning with Alchemy, and continued recording and performing for decades. 

In later years, he moved to a farm in Chattanooga, where he converted a barn into a recording studio.

Lloyd's death follows that of his longtime Television bandmate Tom Verlaine, who died in January 2023 at age 73.