Richard Lloyd, Torrential Guitarist of Television, Has Died

Richard Lloyd, co-founding guitarist of the band Television and an architect of post-punk, has died at the age of 75. According to Rolling Stone, he passed away Saturday morning at his home in Chattanooga, Tennessee, from cholangiocarcinoma, a serious form of bile duct cancer. Rolling Stone reports that his family announced his death following a diagnosis in March 2026. Consequence notes that Lloyd had previously revealed his diagnosis in August.

Lloyd was a central figure in the New York City punk scene of the 1970s, where he led a dual-guitar attack alongside Tom Verlaine. NYT Arts describes his work with Verlaine as bringing a fiery yet sophisticated art rock to the movement. Consequence describes his guitar style as injecting harmonic complexity and a thoughtful approach into the raw, aggressive string work of the era.

Over a 50-year career, Lloyd released nine well-received solo albums. Consequence reports that he grew up in Pittsburgh before moving to New York and learned guitar as a teenager alongside Velvert Turner. Lloyd joined Television in 1973 with Tom Verlaine, Richard Hell, and Billy Ficca, before Fred Smith replaced Hell in 1975.

Brief written by urgent.news from NYT Arts, Consequence, Rolling Stone — 3 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.