Patti Smith Writes A Moving, Poetic Eulogy For Tom Verlaine

On Saturday, Tom Verlaine, the hugely influential guitarist and Television frontman, died at the age of 73. The person who broke the news of Verlaine’s death was Jesse Paris Smith, Patti Smith’s daughter. Over the years, Verlaine was one of Patti Smith’s closest contemporaries. Verlaine and Smith both came out of the New York rock world at the same time, and they were briefly a couple. They collaborated many times over the years. Verlaine played guitar on Patti Smith’s 1974 debut single “Hey Joe,” and he also played on her most recent album, 2012’s Banga.