Johnny Thunders
b. John Anthony Genzale Jnr., 15 July 1952, New York City, New York, USA, d. 23 April 1991, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. Johnny Thunders first gained recognition as a member of the New York Dolls, an aggregation that built a reputation for its hard R&B-influenced rock sound and glam/punk appearance in the early '70s. First calling himself Johnny Volume, the guitarist joined the high school band Johnny And The Jaywalkers, then a local band called Actress, which included in their line-up two other future Dolls members, Arthur Kane and Billy Murcia. Actress evolved into the New York Dolls in late 1971, Genzale, now renamed Johnny Thunders, recorded two albums for Mercury Recordswith the Dolls. Thunders left the band in 1975 along with drummer Jerry Nolan, and the pair formed a new band alongside ex- Television guitarist Richard Hell called the Heartbreakers. This line-up was completed with the addition of guitarist Walter Lure. Hell left the group soon after to form the Void-Oids with Billy Rath replacing him. Thunders and the Heartbreakers recorded prolifically for USA and UK labels such as Track and Jungle Records. The group achieved greater popularity in the UK, where they were accepted as peers by early punk-rock bands that had idolized the Dolls. Thunders earned a reputation for his shambling stage performances owing to an excess of drugs and alcohol. He often made unscheduled guest appearances with other artists. His first solo SO ALONE, found him supported by many UK musicians, including Phil Lynott, Peter Perrett ( Only Ones), Steve Jones and Paul Cook ( Sex Pistols), Steve Marriott ( Humble Pie/ Small Faces) and Paul Gray ( Eddie And The Hot Rods/ Damned). Thunders later gigged with fellow junkie, Sid Vicious in the Living Dead. The Heartbreakers split and reformed numerous times, recording their last album together in 1984. Thunders recorded an album of '50s and '60s R&B/pop covers with singer Patti Palladin and an album with ex- MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer. The latter featured a group called Gang War formed by Thunders and Kramer in the late '80s and early '90s. Thunders was found dead in a hotel room in New Orleans, Louisiana in mysterious circumstances in 1991. He was 38. Despite Thunders’ notorious drug dependency, the autopsy failed to reveal the cause of death although later reports cite a heroin overdose. Sadly, this was an almost inevitable fate for this legendary sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roller.