Cheetah Chrome dies at 71
Dead Boys guitarist Cheetah Chrome has died at 71; the band confirmed his passing on 14 September 2026. His feral riffs helped shape punk.
Cheetah Chrome, the Dead Boys' founding guitarist (born Eugene Richard O’Connor in 1955), has died at 71; the band confirmed his passing on 14 September 2026. Music fans remember him for raw, snarling guitar work that helped push US punk out of the garage and onto stages in New York and beyond.
Why it matters
Chrome's playing helped define a sound that was equal parts menace and melody. He cut his teeth in 1974 with proto‑punk outfit Rocket From The Tombs, then helped form the Dead Boys the following year alongside Stiv Bators, Jimmy Zero, Jeff Magnum and Johnny Blitz. Encouraged by Joey Ramone, the group moved to New York in 1976 and became a fixture at CBGB.
Many of the Dead Boys' signature songs began as Rocket From The Tombs pieces — notably "Sonic Reducer", "Down In Flames" and "What Love Is" — and the band signed to Sire Records to record their debut, Young, Loud And Snotty. Their follow‑up, We Have Come For Your Children, produced by Felix Pappalardi, included "Ain't It Fun", later covered by Guns N' Roses on The Spaghetti Incident?.
The Dead Boys split in 1979 amid the chaos of life on the road and Chrome's battles with addiction. He later returned to the fold of his early scene: in 2003 he reformed Rocket From The Tombs with David Thomas and appeared on Rocket Redux (2004) and Barfly (2011). The Dead Boys reunited again and issued a re‑recording of their debut titled Still Snotty: Young, Loud and Snotty At 40.
Plans announced in late 2024 had held out the promise of another Dead Boys project featuring Chrome alongside Clem Burke, Glen Matlock and guest appearances from James Williamson and Michael Monroe; the recording was said to use cleaned‑up early vocal demos from Stiv Bators, though the album had not appeared.
"A one-man hurricane tearing up the musical landscape with his feral guitar riffs and manic energy." — the band
The band expressed deep condolences to Chrome's family and fans. An official cause of death has not been confirmed. Chrome's influence — a mix of snarling attack, hooks and reckless charm — remains audible in punk and alternative guitar players who followed.
Something wrong on this page? Tell us and we will fix it.
