“A seeker and finder and a true inspiration with and without the guitar”: Johnny Marr and others pay tribute to Richard Lloyd

Television’s Richard Lloyd – one half of one of the great guitar partnerships, with Tom Verlaine – has died at the age of 75.

Lloyd passed away on Saturday at his home in Chattanooga, Tennessee. In a statement on the band’s social media, the band have said simply: “We are so very sad that Richard Lloyd has today passed away at the age of 75. Deepest condolences to (his wife) Sheila and to all of his family and friends.” He had been suffering from cholangiocarcinoma, a type of bile duct cancer.

Lloyd was a co-founder of the band who were the first of the so-called CBGB groups. Allegedly, it was Lloyd who convinced that club’s owner, Hilly Kristal, to take a chance on his new band (Kristal had originally wanted country, bluegrass and blues at his club; hence the initials). Television made their debut there in March 1974 and over the next eighteen months a scene emerged that would become enormously influential on the UK’s nascent punk scene and eventually post-punk.

Television sounded like no-one else. Built around Lloyd and Verlaine’s clean interlocking guitar lines, they were clearly far more musically proficient than their peers and were as influenced as much by jazz as rock n’ roll. Their 1977 debut album Marquee Moon and especially its ten-minute title track remain landmark releases, and have inspired several generations of guitarists.

Sadly, the group split after their second album, 1978’s Adventure and Lloyd spent much of the 1980s mixing a low-key solo career with guitar teaching. Television reformed in 1992 and released a self-titled third album. For the next couple of decades, they would reform intermittently and perform their esteemed back catalogue without adding to it.

Not surprisingly, tributes have been coming in to one of the most influential guitarists of all time. Johnny Marr has written on social media: “R.I.P Richard Lloyd. A seeker and finder and a true inspiration with and without the guitar. It was an honour to know him and a blessing to have been a fan. Thank you Richard. Carry on my friend.”

Meanwhile, Lloyd Cole has written on Twitter/ X: “RIP Richard Lloyd. I only saw Television once – all those amazing riffs that drive the songs – Richard played them all.”

And just to prove that Lloyd’s influence descends down the generations, Geese paid tribute to the guitarist at their show in Philadelphia on Saturday night. Cameron Winter said: “Rest in peace Richard Lloyd’, before the band covered Ain’t That Nothin', from Adventure.