CBGB Founder Hilly Kristal Dead At 75
Hilly Kristal, the founder of legendary New York punk rock venue CBGB, died on Tuesday from complications from lung cancer at the age of 75.
Kristal, who opened the now-defunct venue in 1973 in the then-gritty Bowery neighborhood in Manhattan, is credited with helping to launch the mid-'70s punk revolution with his championing of bands such as the Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads, Television and Patti Smith. Following a final show in October of 2006, Kristal had discussed plans to take the venue to Las Vegas.
CBGB, which opened in December 1973, was officially called CBGB & OMFUG, which stood for "Country, Bluegrass, Blues and Other Music for Uplifting Gormandizers." But it was the decision by the gruff, bespectacled and bearded Kristal to offer a residency to a then-obscure rock band called Television in March of 1974 that helped kick open the door for a raft of bands that would spark the punk-rock movement across the globe.
Intent on showcasing bands playing original music, Kristal offered his stage to thousands upon thousands of young acts over its three-decade-long run. A fixture at the ramshackle club's front door, Kristal ran the club for all 33 years, overseeing its growth from punk's incubator to a tourist attraction — albeit one with legendarily putrid bathrooms and poster-caked walls — whose iconic logo can be seen on T-shirts all over the world.
Though the venue was shuttered last year after a bitter, protracted battle with the owner of the building that housed the club, it closed with a flurry of farewell gigs. A press release his announcing Kristal's death said there are currently plans to open new CBGB clubs "in several locations."
Kristal exhaustively documented the club's layout before its closing, with an eye toward reopening it.
A private memorial service is planned, with a public memorial to be held at a later date.
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