Cheetah Chrome, the guitarist whose slashing riffs helped define early American punk rock with Rocket From the Tombs and the Dead Boys, died Sunday, September 13, 2026. He was 71.
The Dead Boys, the band he co-founded, confirmed his death in a statement shared to Instagram that night.
“We are incredibly sad to announce the news of the passing of our beloved friend and bandmate Cheetah Chrome,” the band wrote. “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 statement continued. “We extend our deepest condolences to Cheetah’s family, friends and fans around the world. His music lives on and will continue to inspire others for generations to come. We ask for privacy during this difficult time. Godspeed Cheetah.”
From Cleveland Clubs to CBGB
He was born Eugene Richard O’Connor in Cleveland in 1955. In the fall of 1974, at 19, he joined Rocket From the Tombs, an unruly hometown outfit that took its cues from the Stooges and the MC5 and built its reputation on volume and menace rather than record sales.
In 1975 the group shared bills with Television and Patti Smith at Cleveland’s Piccadilly club, then played a farewell show that August. Nothing came out while the band was alive. Its recordings surfaced only later, reissued once former members had made names for themselves elsewhere.
When Rocket From the Tombs came apart, Chrome regrouped with singer Stiv Bators and drummer Johnny Blitz, born Johnny Madansky, in a band initially called Frankenstein. It soon became the Dead Boys, rounded out by guitarist Jimmy Zero and bassist Jeff Magnum. Encouraged by Johnny Ramone, the band relocated to New York in 1976 and became a fixture of the early punk scene at CBGB, where it regularly sold out the room.
Two Albums That Set the Template
The Dead Boys’ debut LP, “Young, Loud and Snotty,” arrived on Sire Records in 1977. It opened with “Sonic Reducer,” a song carried over from Rocket From the Tombs that endured as a punk standard. A second album, “We Have Come for Your Children,” followed in 1978 and closed with “Ain’t It Fun,” another track brought down from the Cleveland years.
After Johnny Blitz was stabbed in a street fight in 1979, the Dead Boys played a benefit alongside John Belushi. The band broke up that same year, leaving two albums that generations of punk bands would study. The group also turned up prominently in “D.O.A.: A Right of Passage,” Lech Kowalski’s 1980 punk documentary.
Sessions, Reunions and a Second Act
Chrome kept working through the years that followed, playing around New York City with bands including the Stilettos and leading his own group, Cheetah Chrome and the Casualties. He played on Ronnie Spector’s 1980 solo debut, “Siren,” backed musicians including Nico and toured with GG Allin.
Reunions came at intervals: the Dead Boys regrouped for a run in 1987, returned again in 2004 and reassembled a third time starting in 2017, when a 40th anniversary tour was paired with a re-recording of the debut titled “Still Snotty: Young, Loud and Snotty at 40.” In 2003, Chrome revived Rocket From the Tombs with a lineup featuring Pere Ubu frontman David Thomas and his bandmate Steve Mehlman, Craig Bell and Television’s Richard Lloyd. That version of the band released “Rocket Redux,” a set of re-recorded originals, and “Barfly,” an album of new material, in 2011, shortly before Chrome left. Thomas died in 2025.
Chrome also teamed with the New York Dolls’ Sylvain Sylvain in Batusis, which released a self-titled EP in 2010, the same year his autobiography, “Cheetah Chrome: A Dead Boy’s Tale from the Front Lines of Punk Rock,” was published. He was portrayed on screen by Rupert Grint in the 2013 film “CBGB.” After moving to Nashville, he took a job on the other side of the desk as creative director of A&R and director of special projects for Plowboy Records, which released his album “Solo” in 2014.
Plans for a 50th Anniversary
Bators died in 1990, and when the Dead Boys reconvened in the 2010s, singer Jake Hout took his place at the microphone. Hout quit the band in 2024, saying his exit was tied to a plan by Chrome to mount a 50th anniversary tour using an AI-synthesized version of Bators’ voice.
The Dead Boys had planned to take their debut album back out on the road in 2027 to mark its 50th anniversary. Chrome leaves behind his wife, Anna O’Connor, and Rogan, his son, who is 14; both live in Nashville.