MTV reports Hilly Kristal, the founder of legendary New York punk rock venue CBGB, died on Tuesday from complications from lung cancer at the age of 75.
Kristal, who opened the now-defunct venue in 1973 in the then-gritty Bowery neighborhood in Manhattan, is credited with helping to launch the mid-'70s punk revolution with his championing of bands such as the Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads, Television and Patti Smith. Following a final show in October of 2006, Kristal had discussed plans to take the venue to Las Vegas.
CBGB, which opened in December 1973, was officially called CBGB & OMFUG, which stood for "Country, Bluegrass, Blues and Other Music for Uplifting Gormandizers." But it was the decision by the gruff, bespectacled and bearded Kristal to offer a residency to a then-obscure rock band called Television in March of 1974 that helped kick open the door for a raft of bands that would spark the punk-rock movement across the globe.
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