Guitarist Tom Verlaine, co-founder of punk rock band Television, dies at 73

Verlaine on the cover of his self-titled debut solo album from 1979.

Tom Verlaine, guitarist and co-founder of the seminal proto-punk band Television who influenced many bands while playing at ultra-cool downtown New York music venue CBGB alongside the Ramones, Patti Smith and Talking Heads, has died. He was 73.

He died Saturday in New York City, surrounded by close friends after a brief illness, said Cara Hutchison from the Lede Company, a public relations firm.