Richard Lloyd, the Television co-founder whose wiry leads made Marquee Moon a blueprint for generations of post-punk guitarists, died on Saturday, November 7, at his home in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He was 75. His family said the cause was cholangiocarcinoma, a form of bile duct cancer diagnosed in March. “His loving wife Sheila and his dog Willie Mays were with him at the end,” the family said in a statement to Rolling Stone.
On “Marquee Moon,” Tom Verlaine starts with a repeating chord figure. Lloyd comes in against it, picking out two notes at a time, and Fred Smith’s bass and Billy Ficca’s drums enter in turn. Each part changes the way you hear the one before it. Lloyd takes the first solo after the second chorus, squeezes a few sharp bends into a short break, and gives the song back to the singer. Verlaine stretches out after the next chorus.
Lloyd’s ear for where a guitar should answer a singer served him well with Matthew Sweet. On Girlfriend (1991), he played the solos on “Divine Intervention” and “Evangeline.” Sweet recalled that the two took turns with the same Jazzmaster on “Evangeline,” with Sweet playing the recurring figure and Lloyd answering it before taking the solo. Lloyd returned for Altered Beast and 100% Fun. He also played on Meet John Doe, the solo debut of X’s bassist and singer.
Lloyd returned to Television for its self-titled third album in 1992 and played with the band on and off until leaving in 2007. Two years later he released The Jamie Neverts Story, an album of Hendrix covers that paid tribute to both Hendrix and Turner. He published his memoir, Everything Is Combustible, in 2017 and released The Countdown the following year.
At Baker Falls in New York City on January 23, 2026, the Richard Lloyd Group played “Alchemy” alongside Television’s “Elevation” and “Friction.” Lloyd had left the old band’s songs out of his sets for years. He spoke to Guitar World that January about what he’d set out to do with Television. “I wanted to make a dent in rock history. That was my goal, and that came true.”
Lloyd’s survivors include his wife, Sheila O’Keefe, and his son, Dylan.
