Obituaries

Richard Lloyd, Co-Founding Guitarist of Punk Pioneers Television, Dies at 75

November 7, 2026

Richard Lloyd, one of the twin lead guitarists of punk pioneers Television, died at his Chattanooga, Tennessee, home on Saturday. He was 75.

His family released a statement confirming his death from cholangiocarcinoma, a bile duct cancer; he was diagnosed with the disease in March.

Lloyd founded Television, the visionary NYC punk band, with Tom Verlaine, another imaginative guitarist who proved to be an ideal musical sparring partner. (Verlaine died in 2003.) Eschewing rock clichés, Lloyd and Verlaine intertwined their lead and rhythm parts, alternating between raw, kinetic energy and mind-bending extended improvisations. These gifts were evident on their 1977 debut album Marquee Moon, whose blend of art-rock and garage punk opened avenues for post-punk virtuosity, serving as a guiding light for everyone from U2 and R.E.M. to Sonic Youth and Geese.

Television’s combustible chemistry, so thrilling on stage at CBGB and on record, also led to their premature split; the band—Verlaine, Lloyd, bassist Fred Smith and drummer Billy Ficca—disbanded, not long after delivering its second album, Adventure, in 1978. After spending the 1980s on the fringes of underground rock, Lloyd came thundering back in the early '90s, playing gripping guitar with Matthew Sweet and participating in a Television reunion that led to a third album in 1992. The pairing of Sweet's albums with Television's comeback helped tease apart Lloyd's leads from Verlaine's, spotlighting his gift for winding, melodic leads and sharp, jagged chords.

Lloyd, born Richard John Alt in Pittsburgh on Oct. 25, 1951, grew up in New York City after his mother relocated following a divorce; when she remarried, her son took the surname of his stepfather. Originally a drummer, he lost interest in the instrument after his synesthesia developed. He wrote in his memoir Everything Is Combustible, "My drums lost all their color—like in The Wizard of Oz in Kansas—and everything became grayscale. The drums didn't sound good anymore, and I heard a voice—an auditory hallucination that told me, 'You need to play a melody instrument.'"

That instrument turned out to be guitar. Lloyd fell in love with the instrument while attending a sleepover with his cousins at age 7. He told Guitar World, "The guitar was a powerful motivator. I began trying to bend strings, and I wanted to go electric right away. I'm not fond of acoustic; it doesn't suit me."

Early on, Lloyd learned a few tricks from his friend Velvert Turner, who took lessons from Jimi Hendrix. Neglecting his studies—he dropped out of Stuyvesant High School prior to graduation—Lloyd witnessed concerts by The Doors, The Grateful Dead, The Allman Brothers Band and Led Zeppelin, incorporating elements of their progressive rock into his playing. He spent some time in Boston, where he played with John Lee Hooker, then headed to Los Angeles before settling in New York City in 1973, intent on becoming part of the scene coalescing around The New York Dolls.

Lloyd became roommates with Terry Ork, a silk screener at Andy Warhol's Factory who managed the movie bookstore Cinemabilia, where both Richard Hell and Verlaine worked. The pair played in The Neon Boys with Ficca, and they eventually brought in Lloyd as their second guitarist. He described his musical contributions to the band to The Stranger in 2015: "All the filigrees and arabesques on Marquee Moon are all mine. Even though the solos are maybe different, during the verses, when Tom's singing, I'm playing all the melody. I brought a rock'n'roll heart."

The Neon Boys evolved into Television, landing a regular Sunday night gig at CBGB. The group created enough buzz to record a demo with producer Brian Eno in 1975, but it garnered no label interest. Hell left the band, with Blondie's Fred Smith filling his vacancy on bass. Ork formed Ork Records to release "Little Johnny Jewel," the 1975 single from Television that led to their deal with Elektra Records.

Marquee Moon, Television's debut, earned great reviews and a devoted cult following. The band quickly followed with 1978’s Adventure, but it, like Marquee Moon, didn't find a broad audience. The lack of commercial success dovetailed with increased tensions within the band, spurred in part by Verlaine's refusal to give songwriting credit to Lloyd for his contributions. Lloyd left the band months after the release of Adventure, and the band collapsed with his departure.

Lloyd swiftly delivered his debut, Alchemy, in 1979, then became embroiled in heroin addiction, eventually getting clean in 1984. He began his comeback in 1985, cutting Field of Fire for a Swedish label. The album eventually received a stateside release, which roughly corresponded with the release of Real Time, a live album he recorded at his former stomping ground of CBGB.

Lloyd gathered momentum in the 1990s through his work as a sideman. After playing on Meet John Doe, the debut solo album from the X bassist, Lloyd became a regular collaborator of Matthew Sweet, shaping the sound of Girlfriend, Altered Beast and 100% Fun, and touring with the power-pop singer-songwriter. He also returned to Television, who reunited for an eponymous album in 1992, which, like its predecessors, earned positive notices but paltry sales.

Lloyd returned to his solo career with The Cover Doesn't Matter in 2001, then joined David Thomas and Cheetah Chrome in the revival of their proto-punk band Rocket From the Tombs, taking the place of the late Peter Laughner. Lloyd balanced RFTT with concerts by the reunited Television, gigging with both bands until 2007, when he permanently severed ties with his original group. He had little contact with Verlaine over the rest of their lives.

Lloyd spent the next 20 years working on his solo projects while writing for Guitar World and teaching guitar lessons. He published his autobiography, Everything Is Combustible, in 2017 and released his last album, The Countdown, in 2018.

Earlier this year, before his cancer diagnosis, Lloyd gave an interview with Guitar World where he reflected upon his career: "I wanted to make a dent in rock history. That was my goal, and that came true."

Lloyd is survived by his wife, Sheila O'Keefe Lloyd; his son, Dylan; and his brother, Eric.