Television co-founder Richard Lloyd, architect of Marquee Moon’s twin-guitar language, dies at 75

Richard Lloyd, the co-founding Television guitarist whose lines intertwined with Tom Verlaine’s across *Marquee Moon*, died on Saturday, November 7, at his home in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He was 75. His family said his wife, Sheila, and their dog, Willie Mays, were with him. Lloyd had been diagnosed in March with cholangiocarcinoma, a form of bile-duct cancer.

Lloyd joined Verlaine, bassist Richard Hell and drummer Billy Ficca in 1973, helping form the group that became one of the defining bands of New York’s CBGB scene. Television’s approach stood apart from the power-chord shorthand often associated with early punk: Lloyd and Verlaine built songs from crossing melodies, unexpected harmonic movement and long instrumental conversations. On the 1977 debut *Marquee Moon*, that method turned the title track into an enduring reference point for players who wanted two guitars to sound independent without losing the song.

After Television’s first breakup, Lloyd began a solo career with *Alchemy* in 1979 and later made records including *Field of Fire*, *Rosedale* and 2018’s *The Countdown*. He also became a distinctive collaborator, bringing his angular phrasing to Matthew Sweet albums including *Girlfriend*, *Altered Beast* and *100% Fun*. Television reunited in the early 1990s, and Lloyd remained part of the band until 2007.

The scale of his influence was larger than Television’s compact studio catalogue. Lloyd showed that a rock guitarist could be wiry, melodic and technically curious without losing urgency. His exchanges with Verlaine became a blueprint for generations of post-punk, indie and alternative players who treated rhythm and lead as roles that could overlap rather than fixed jobs.