Dead Boys announced the death of co-founder and guitarist Cheetah Chrome in a statement shared on Facebook. The band confirmed that Chrome passed away on September 13 at the age of 71.
The statement paid tribute to Chrome’s influence on the punk rock movement and his personality beyond the stage.
“We are incredibly sad to announce the news of the passing of our beloved friend and bandmate Cheetah Chrome,” the band said. “Cheetah was a true original, an architect of the punk rock movement. A one-man hurricane tearing up the musical landscape with his feral guitar riffs and manic energy. Beyond all that Cheetah was also just a really sweet guy that loved rock-roll.”
The band went on to extend condolences to Chrome’s loved ones and asked for privacy during this time.
“We extend our deepest condolences to Cheetah’s family, friends and fans around the world,” the statement continued. “His music lives on and will continue to inspire others for generations to come. We ask for privacy during this difficult time. Godspeed Cheetah. Tony, Chris, Mark and the entire Dead Boys family.”
Chrome’s death in Nashville, Tennessee, closes out a career that spanned more than five decades. His work helped define the sound of American punk rock from its earliest days.
Chrome was born Eugene Richard O’Connor on February 18, 1955, in Cleveland, Ohio. He got his start in 1974 with Rocket from the Tombs, a Cleveland proto-punk band that would go on to influence the genre’s development. He later helped form Frankenstein alongside future Dead Boys members Stiv Bators and Johnny Blitz, a project that eventually evolved into the Dead Boys.
The Dead Boys went on to release two studio albums, Young, Loud and Snotty in 1977 and We Have Come for Your Children in 1978, before disbanding in 1979. The band reunited for live performances over the following decades, though no new studio album ever followed.
Beyond his work with the Dead Boys, Chrome built a lasting legacy as a chronicler of the punk movement he helped create. He published his autobiography, Cheetah Chrome: A Dead Boy’s Tale From the Front Lines of Punk Rock, in 2010. He later took on the role of Creative Director at Plowboy Records in Nashville. He is survived by his wife, Anna O’Connor, and his son, Rogan.
Chrome’s raw guitar work remains inseparable from the Cleveland and CBGB-era punk scene. Young, Loud and Snotty continues to stand as one of the genre’s defining records.
