Richard Lloyd, the influential guitarist and co-founder of the seminal New York rock group Television, died Saturday morning at his home in Chattanooga, Tennessee, his family announced. He was 75.
Lloyd died from cholangiocarcinoma, a form of bile duct cancer, his family confirmed in a statement to Rolling Stone. The family said his wife, Sheila, and his dog, Willie Mays, were at his side. Lloyd was diagnosed with the illness in March 2026. Tumors had developed in his liver, including an inoperable growth situated near critical blood vessels, according to information shared on a GoFundMe campaign that had been organized to assist with his medical costs.
Pioneering the CBGB Sound
Born Richard John Alt on Oct. 25, 1951, in Pittsburgh, Lloyd grew up in New York’s Greenwich Village. Although he started on drums, he switched to guitar as a teenager. After stints in Boston and Los Angeles, he returned to Manhattan in 1973 and joined forces with singer Tom Verlaine, bassist Richard Hell and drummer Billy Ficca to form Television.
The group was instrumental in establishing CBGB, the Bowery club that served as the cradle for American punk and new wave. Television secured early bookings at the venue when it still focused on country and bluegrass, paving the path for contemporaries like the Ramones, Blondie and Talking Heads. Hell parted ways with the lineup in 1975, replaced on bass by Fred Smith.
Unlike the raw, fast chord progressions favored by many early punk outfits, Television built its reputation on complex, spiraling twin-guitar arrangements shared between Lloyd and Verlaine. Lloyd often described himself as bringing warmth, melody and a rock and roll edge that complemented Verlaine’s more abstract style.
The Legacy of ‘Marquee Moon’
Television signed with Elektra Records and issued its debut studio LP, “Marquee Moon,” in February 1977. The album featured extended compositions, including an expansive title track running nearly 11 minutes. While it met with modest commercial sales in the United States, it achieved major critical acclaim and landed top-10 chart status in the United Kingdom.
During studio sessions, Lloyd insisted on double-tracking his guitar parts to enrich the sound, layering multiple takes on tracks like “Venus” and “Guiding Light.” The release grew into a revered rock standard, later placed at No. 107 on Rolling Stone’s 2023 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time and widely cited as an inspiration for alternative bands such as R.E.M. and Sonic Youth.
Internal friction and substance abuse cut the original group’s run short. Television released a second record, “Adventure,” in 1978 before disbanding that same year.
Solo Work and Session Career
Lloyd issued his debut solo album, “Alchemy,” in 1979. Severe struggles with heroin addiction stalled his musical output for several years, but he achieved sobriety in the mid-1980s and released his sophomore solo effort, “Field of Fire.” Over his life, he produced nine solo studio and live albums, concluding with “The Countdown” in 2018.
Lloyd also became a sought-after session player, contributing celebrated guitar solos to Matthew Sweet’s 1991 power-pop milestone “Girlfriend” and working alongside artists such as John Doe of the band X. In 2017, he chronicled his life in the memoir “Everything Is Combustible: Television, CBGB’s and Five Decades of Rock and Roll.”
Television reunited in 1992 to record a self-titled third album and toured intermittently. Lloyd stepped away from the band permanently in 2007. Verlaine died in 2023 at age 73.
