Television’s Tom Verlaine Dies at 73

Tom Verlaine, the iconic frontman of Television, has died, the New York Times reports. He was 73 years old.

Verlaine’s work with Television is punctuated by their landmark 1977 debut album Marquee Moon, regularly hailed as one of the best albums of the 1970s, Their intricate, airy compositions embodied the experimental wing of Manhattan’s fabled CBGB scene in the late ‘70s. The band was short-lived, breaking up after 1978’s Adventure.

Shortly after Television broke up, Verlaine decided to continue pursuing music, releasing his solo debut in 1979. He enjoyed a fruitful writing period in the ‘80s with the full-lengths Dreamtime, Words From the Front, Cover, and Flash Light. Verlaine put out three more LPs in the next decade and then took a short break. His last two solo albums, Songs and Other Things and Around, came out in 2006.

Verlaine also went on to work with a number of musicians after Television. He started the supergroup the Million Dollar Bashers with Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo and Steve Shelley, Wilco guitarist Nels Cline, Bob Dylan bassist Tony Garnier, guitarist Smokey Hormel, and keyboardist John Medeski. They went on to help soundtrack the Bob Dylan biopic I’m Not There. Verlaine also collaborated with David Bowie, Violent Femmes, and James Iha, among others. 

After hearing of Verlaine’s death, countless musicians have posted tributes in his honor, including the Bangles’ Susanna Hoffs, Real Estate, Heems, and Ryley Walker, among others. “Tom Verlaine was a true great, tweeted Mogwai’s Stuart Braithwaite. “His role in our culture and straight up awesomeness on the electric guitar was completely legendary. Name 10 minutes of music as good as Marquee Moon. You can’t. It’s perfect. Rest in peace Tom x.”