The iconic New York punk died of cancer at the age of 69.
The sad news fell overnight through his Facebook page: Sylvain Sylvain, former guitarist of the New York Dolls died this Wednesday at the age of 69 from cancer which he had been fighting for two years.. This announcement was accompanied by a tribute from his friend Lenny Kaye, one of Patti Smith’s loyal musicians:
Born in Cairo in 1951 under the name of Sylvain Mizrahi, his family had left Egypt for France to flee anti-Semitism, before moving to New York for good.. It is in the district of Queens that Sylvain Sylvain grew up and where he met at the turn of the 70s his accomplice and future drummer of the Dolls Billy Murcia.
Soon after, he joined as rhythm guitarist this young group formed by David Johansen and the legendary John Genzale aka Johnny Thunders.. He also offered her his baptismal name by borrowing that of the New York Doll Hospital then located on Lexington Avenue.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kL6zaPy6kdI
A mix of glam, outrage, and overwhelming live energy, the New York Dolls had a whirlwind career in the early 1970s. and which partly foreshadowed the success of the punk wave of the end of the decade. After the commercial failure in 1974 of their second album Too Much Too Soon and the split of the group a year later, Sylvain Sylvain attempted the solo adventure and began a career that kept him active in the punk scene–rock until the late 90s.
In the mid-2000s and in the wake of several reformations of groups of this time, the guitarist found on stage the surviving members of the New York Dolls for a new series of concerts.. With singer David Johansen, they released in 2011 a fifth and final album of the group entitled Dancing Backward in High Heels before the final dissolution of the group.
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