(CNN) — Tom Verlaine, a founding member of the influential New York Television punk band, died Saturday at age 73 “after a brief illness,” according to a press release from Jesse Paris Smith, the daughter of Verlaine’s former partner, Patti Smith.
Verlaine died “peacefully” in New York City, “surrounded by close friends,” according to the statement. The Wilmington, Delaware-raised guitarist was “noted for his angular lyricism and spiky lyrical asides, a sly wit and ability to shake each string to his true emotion,” the statement added.
In an emailed comment to CNN on Sunday, Smith said he met Verlaine shortly after his own father passed away.
“In him, I felt the energy of a father: a man to hug, laugh, share mischievous jokes and a wild imagination,” Smith said. “He was the perfect friend and support for me growing up.”
Patti Smith backstage with Television’s Tom Verlaine before performing at the “Arista Records Salutes New York with a Festival of Great Music” event at the City Center on September 21, 1975. (Credit: Charles Steiner/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
“I think each person lucky enough to be around Tom had their own version of this experience, whether through friendship or work, with Tom you shared your own language, understanding and universe, something so precious and rare, one of a kind relationship with a true oddity of soul,” he added.
His Television bandmate Jimmy Rip called Verlaine “dazzlingly intelligent, incredibly cultured and surreally dumb.”
In a tribute on his verified Instagram, Smith said he would love the late musician “forever.”
“There has never been another like you and there never will be,” he wrote.
Smith’s mother, legendary music writer Patti Smith, also posted her own tributes to her former partner on Instagram. The two were a couple in the 1970s and remained lifelong friends. Patti Smith posted a photo of herself with Verlaine and another of a vase of flowers with the caption: “This is the morning thinking about Tom. Mourning is not an affliction, but a privilege.
Debbie Harry and Blondie’s Billy Idol also honored the guitarist and songwriter on social media. “He made amazing music that was very influential on the US and UK punk rock scene in the ’70s,” wrote idol.
Television grew out of the 1970s New York punk scene and was a mainstay at legendary club CBGB, along with Talking Heads and Blondie. His album “Marquee Moon” is considered a classic of that time.
CNN’s Rebekah Riess contributed to this report.
