Sylvain Sylvain.Photo: Barney Britton/Redferns
New York Dolls guitarist Sylvain Sylvain has died. He was 69.
Sylvain’s wife, Wanda O’Kelley Mizrahi, shared the news of his death in aFacebook postThursday, revealing that he died on Wednesday.
“As most of you know, Sylvain battled cancer for the past two and 1/2 years,” Mizrahi wrote. “Though he fought it valiantly, yesterday he passed away from this disease. While we grieve his loss, we know that he is finally at peace and out of pain.”
Sylvain will be buried in New York, Mizrahi toldRolling Stone.
Kaye said Sylvain’s “role in the band was as lynchpin, keeping the revolving satellites of his bandmates in precision.”
“The New York Dolls heralded the future, made it easy to dance to,” Kaye wrote of the band. “From the time I first saw their poster appear on the wall of Village Oldies in 1972, advertising a residency at the Mercer Hotel up the street, throughout their meteoric ascent and shooting star flame-out, the New York Dolls were the heated core of this music we hail, the band that makes you want to form a band.”
The band broke up in 1977, but, as Kaye wrote, “Syl never stopped.”
Sylvain released his first solo album in 1979, and then continued releasing music into the 1990s. The New York Dolls reunited in 2004, and Sylvain appeared on the band’s final three albums:One Day It Will Please Us to Remember Even Thisin 2006,Cause I Sez Soin 2009, andDancing Backward in High Heelsin 2011.
Sylvain revealed his cancer diagnosis back in 2019, and aGoFundMe campaignwas launched to help raise money for his medical expenses.
“Aw man….One of the NYC originals, Sylvain Sylvain has passed away,“wrote Steve Stevens, calling Sylvain a “true sweetheart.”
“In 1980 sitting on a couch in my old band loft, he gave me my stage name of Steve Stevens,” Stevens added, concluding with one of Sylvain’s lyrics: “Where’d ya get that beat, got that beat on 14th street.”
The Waterboys lead singer Mike Scottwrote in a tweet, “Travel on well Sylvain Sylvain you all-time great rock and roller (February 14, 1951 - January 13, 2021).”
In another tweet, Kid Congo Powers said that Sylvain was one of his early inspirations.
“All Hail Sylvain Sylvain !” the guitaristwrote. “The New York Dolls did so much for me, personally, as an inspiration since my teens. R.I.P.”
source: people.com
