Cheetah Chrome, guitarist of the pioneering punk band , died Sunday, September 13. He was 71.
His death was announced on the band’s Instagram page. A cause of death was not disclosed.
“We are incredibly sad to announce the news of the passing of our beloved friend and bandmate Cheetah Chrome,” the statement said. “Cheetah was a true original, an architect of the punk rock movement. a one man hurricane tearing up the musical landscape with his feral guitar riffs and manic energy. Beyond all that Cheetah was also just a really sweet guy that loved rock-roll.
“We extend our deepest condolences to Cheetah’s family, friends and fans around the world. His music lives on and will continue to inspire others for generations to come. We ask for privacy during this difficult time. Godspeed Cheetah.” The post was attributed to current Dead Boys band members Mark Thorne, Tony Garza and Chris Alaniz and “the entire Dead Boys family.”
Despite releasing only two studio albums during its late-1970s heyday – 1977’s Young, Loud and Snotty and 1978’s We Have Come for Your Children – Dead Boys had an outsize impact on American punk through its now-legendary performances at CBGB, the Lower Manhattan rock club that launched such influential artists as Patti Smith, Television, The Ramones, Blondie and Talking Heads.
In the 2013 film CBGB, Chrome was portrayed by actor Rupert Grint.
With a chaotic, nihilistic stage persona, Chrome’s heavily distorted guitar and the snarling, abrasive vocals of Stiv Bators, Dead Boys were as close to England’s Sex Pistols as the CBGB scene produced. At the venue’s final show in 2006, Smith herself paid tribute to what she often cited as one of her favorite bands of the scene by performing a cover of Dead Boys’ “Sonic Reducer.”
Born Eugene Richard O’Connor on February 18, 1955, in Cleveland, Chrome first achieved punk success in that city’s live music scene with his band Rocket from the Tombs, an aggressive outfit whose members would relocate to New York City in 1976 at the urging of The Ramones’ Joey Ramone. By that point the Rocket had split up, with Chrome, Bators and drummer Johnny Blitz forming Dead Boys (other Rocket members would form the band Pere Ubu).
Under pressure from its record label to develop a more mainstream sound, Dead Boys broke up in 1979. Bators died in 1990 of traumatic brain injury following a motorbike accident in Paris.
Chrome continued to perform as a solo act, often at another legendary downtown venue Max’s Kansas City, and took part in several Dead Boys reunions in the following decades, including a 2017 40th anniversary tour. That year, the band released Still Snotty: Young, Loud and Snotty at 40, a newly recorded version of the 1977 debut album.
Following Chrome’s death, Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan posted a tribute on Instagram. “RIP dear Cheetah Chrome. Your guitar playing and attack taught me so much about ‘edge’ and precision in punk and beyond. Getting to know you in later years was a complete honor. Forever Dead Boys. Forever Cheetah Chrome!!”
Chrome, who resided in Nashville at the time of his death, is survived by wife Anna O’Connor and son Rogan.
