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Richard Hell

Richard Hell

The poet-turned-bassist who wrote punk's founding text, Blank Generation, and its safety-pinned, torn-shirt uniform to match.

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The poet-turned-bassist who wrote punk's founding text, Blank Generation, and its safety-pinned, torn-shirt uniform to match.

MOODS · defiant · raw · literate · nihilistic · edgy · restless · confrontational · gritty

BIOGRAPHY

Richard Hell was born Richard Meyers in Kentucky and moved to New York City in 1966 to become a poet, publishing verse and homemade chapbooks before Tom Miller (later Tom Verlaine) convinced him to pick up bass. Together with drummer Billy Ficca they formed the Neon Boys, which evolved into Television and secured a Sunday residency at CBGB that helped kick-start the first wave of punk and inspired artists like Patti Smith. After leaving Television in 1975 and a stint with Johnny Thunders' Heartbreakers, Hell founded Richard Hell & the Voidoids in 1976 with guitarists Robert Quine and Ivan Julian. Their 1977 album Blank Generation drew rave reviews and later saw its title track named one of the 500 Songs That Shaped Rock. Since the late 1980s Hell has focused on writing, publishing two novels and serving as BlackBook magazine's film critic from 2004 to 2006.

WHY THEY'RE COOL

Hell's defiant cool and torn-clothing, safety-pin style became a literal template for punk fashion worldwide, while Blank Generation's jagged, literate songwriting made him one of the movement's most eloquent voices. The title track ranks among the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and was voted a top-10 punk song by original British punk figures, cementing a legacy that runs from CBGB's earliest nights through to his later career as a novelist and critic.

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