Richard Hell

Richard Hell (born October 2, 1949) is the stage name of Richard Myers, an American singer, songwriter and writer, probably best-known as frontman for the early punk band Richard Hell and the Voidoids. Their 1977 album, Blank Generation, contained many elements that would become identified with punk, from the nihilism of the title track (a play off of Rod McKuen's 1959 spoken-word song Beat Generation) to the frantic energy of the anti-romantic anthem, "Love Comes in Spurts".

Biography

Hell dropped out of high school in Lexington, Kentucky, and traveled to New York to become a poet. He eventually wound up in a tight social vortex that became the New York downtown punk scene of the mid-1970s.

Related Topics:
Lexington, Kentucky - New York - 1970s

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In his early twenties, Hell formed a band with high school friend Tom Miller (who took the name Tom Verlaine), which became known as Television. Television's performances at CBGB helped kick-start the first wave of punk bands, inspiring a number of different artists, notably Patti Smith who wrote the first press review of Television for the Soho Weekly News in June of 1974; started an affair with Tom Verlaine; and formed a band of her own that began performing on double-bills with Television, and later with The Voidoids.

Related Topics:
Tom Verlaine - Television - CBGB - Patti Smith

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Richard Hell split from Television after dispute over creative control. Hell reports that he and Verlaine had originally divided the songwriting evenly before Verlaine later insisted on favoring his own songs. Verlaine remains relatively silent on the subject.

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In 1975, with former New York Dolls members Jerry Nolan and Johnny Thunders, Hell formed a band called The Heartbreakers (not to be confused with the later Tom Petty band). This ensemble was rather short-lived, and Hell later founded the Voidoids.

Related Topics:
New York Dolls - Jerry Nolan - Johnny Thunders - The Heartbreakers - Tom Petty - The Voidoids

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Hell was married to Patty Smyth, formerly of the band Scandal, and the two had a daughter, Ruby. The marriage did not last, and Smyth (who is not to be confused with Patti Smith) married tennis star John McEnroe in 1997. Ruby lives with Smyth and McEnroe.

Related Topics:
Patty Smyth - Scandal - Tennis - John McEnroe - 1997

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Hell, Dee Dee Ramone (of the Ramones), Johnny Thunders and Jerry Nolan were a clique of heroin users, according to Marky Ramone (who was originally a member of the Voidoids under his birth name, Marc Bell). Their friends and associates Marky Ramone, Joey Ramone, Tom Verlaine and Patti Smith do not seem to have used heroin, despite occasional rumors to the contrary.

Related Topics:
Dee Dee Ramone - The Ramones - Johnny Thunders - Jerry Nolan - Heroin - Marky Ramone - Voidoids - Joey Ramone - Tom Verlaine - Patti Smith

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In recent years, Hell has returned to literature. He published a quasi-autobiographical novel Go Now in 1996, and has released a collection of short pieces (poems, essays and drawings) called Hot and Cold in 2001.

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