Sylvain Sylvain death: New York Dolls co-founder and guitarist dies aged 69
Sylvain Sylvain, the co-founder of the legendary Seventies band New York Dolls, has died aged 69.
The guitarist and punk icon died on Wednesday (13 January), his wife Wanda O’Kelley Mizrahi has revealed.
“As most of you know, Sylvain battled cancer for the past two and a half years,” Mizrahi wrote in a statement on his Facebook page. “Though he fought it valiantly, yesterday he passed away from this disease.
“While we grieve his loss, we know that he is finally at peace and out of pain. Please crank up his music, light a candle, say a prayer and let’s send this beautiful doll on his way.”
Born Sylvain Mizrahi in Cairo, Egypt, in 1951, the musician had moved with his family to France before settling in New York City.
In New York, Sylvain had been a member of the group Actress – alongside Arthur Kane, Johnny Thunders and Billy Murcia – before co-founding New York Dolls in 1971. The band took their name from a toy repair shop called New York Doll Hospital.
Along with The Velvet Underground and The Stooges, New York Dolls was one of the first bands of the early punk rock scene. Despite not achieving huge commercial success, the group built a cult following and were “one of the most influential rock bands of the last 20 years”, according to the Encyclopedia of Popular Music (1995).
Their music influenced bands such as The Smiths, whose frontman Morrissey organised a reunion show for the group’s surviving members in 2004.
Although Sylvain starred primarily as the band’s guitarist, he also played piano and contributed to songwriting on their first two albums, 1973’s New York Dolls and 1974’s Too Much Too Soon.
The band’s lineup changed over the years, but Sylvain and vocalist David Johansen remained until its dissolution in 1977.
Lenny Kaye, Patti Smith’s longtime guitarist, paid tribute to Sylvain in a Facebook post reading: “His role in the band was as a lynchpin, keeping the revolving satellites of his bandmates in precision.
“Though he tried valiantly to keep the band gaping, in the end the Dolls’ moral fable overwhelmed them, not before seeding an influence that would engender many rock generations yet to come.”
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