Cheetah Chrome, guitarist and co-founder of Dead Boys, has died at the age of 71. Eugene Richard O’Connor, his real name, died on Sunday, September 13.
Chrome was one of the key figures of the first generation of American punk. Before Dead Boys, he was a member of Rocket From The Tombs, alongside David Thomas and Peter Laughner, who would later form Pere Ubu.
In 1975, he formed Dead Boys with vocalist Stiv Bators and drummer Johnny Blitz. The band moved to New York and became part of the CBGB scene, releasing their debut album, Young, Loud And Snotty, in 1977. The song “Sonic Reducer”, built around Chrome’s distinctive guitar riff, became one of the best-known tracks of the early American punk era.
Dead Boys signed with Sire Records, but the band broke up in 1979. Chrome continued to be involved in music in the following decades and published his autobiography, Cheetah Chrome: A Dead Boy’s Tale From The Front Lines Of Punk Rock, in 2010. He also became creative director of Plowboy Records, which released his first solo EP, Solo, in 2013.
Dead Boys announced his death on social media, describing him as “a true original” and one of the figures who helped shape the punk rock movement.
Chrome is survived by his wife, Anna O’Connor, and his 14-year-old son, Rogan.
