Cheetah Chrome, founding guitarist with legendary Cleveland punks the Dead Boys, has died at the age of 71. The news was confirmed by the band in a social media post.
“We are incredibly sad to announce the news of the passing of our beloved friend and bandmate Cheetah Chrome,” the band wrote. “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 who loved rock’n’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.”
Chrome – born Eugene Richard O’Connor in 1955 – joined cult Cleveland proto-punk band Rocket From The Tombs in 1974, before hooking up with vocalist Stiv Bators, guitarist Jimmy Zero, bassist Jeff Magnum and drummer Johnny Blitz to form the Dead Boys the following year. In 1976, encouraged by Joey Ramone, they moved to New York and became a fixture in the nascent CBGB scene.
“We realised that there were a lot of people like us out there,” Chrome told Classic Rock. “Why it didn’t occur to us earlier, to just jump in the damn van and get a gig out of town… we weren’t rocket scientists, we were the Dead Boys.”
Armed with several sure-fire punk anthems from his Rocket From The Tombs days – Sonic Reducer, Down In Flames and What Love Is – the Dead Boys signed to The Ramones’ label, Sire Records, and recorded their debut album, Young, Loud And Snotty.
The album was not a commercial success, and the follow-up, We Have Come For Your Children – produced by ex-Mountain bassist Felix Pappalardi – fared no better, although it did produce the classic Ain’t It Fun, later covered by Guns N’ Roses on The Spaghetti Incident?.
The Dead Boys broke up in 1979, but reformed several times over the following years for a series of ill-fated reunion dates as Chrome battled drug addiction.
“We had a hard time,” he told Classic Rock. “The reason that we broke up in the first place was because of reasons. So as soon as we were together for any length of time, they reared their ugly head. There was no management – we were it. And there were no band meetings, except for van rides. Who wants to argue for four hours in a van? It was unpleasant and stressful.”
In 2003, Chrome reformed Rocket from the Tombs with original frontman David Thomas (leader of post-punk band Pere Ubu), while Television guitarist Richard Lloyd filled in for original singer Peter Laughner, who had died in 1977. The band released two albums with Chrome in the band: Rocket Redux in 2004 and Barfly in 2011.
Six years later, the Dead Boys reformed with Jake Hout on vocals – Bators died in a motorbike accident in Paris in 1990 – and released a re-recorded version of their debut album entitled Still Snotty: Young, Loud and Snotty At 40.
In late 2024, plans were announced for a new Dead Boys album featuring Chrome alongside Clem Burke (Blondie) on drums and Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols) on bass, plus James Williamson (The Stooges) and Michael Monroe (Hanoi Rocks) making guest appearances. The band’s label, Cleopatra, revealed that the project would use cleaned-up early vocal demos from Bators, but the album has not yet materialised.
An official cause of death has not been confirmed.
(LouderSound)
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