Television Bassist Fred Smith Dead at 77

Television bassist Fred Smith died Thursday of unspecified causes at the age of 77.

The news was announced on the band’s Instagram page. Jimmy Rip, who has served as Televison’s guitarist since co-founder Richard Lloyd’s departure in 2007, noted on his own post that Smith had fought an unspecified illness “long and hard these last few years.”

Smith joined Television in 1975 and appeared on all three of their studio albums, including the 1977 masterpiece Marquee Moon. Prior to that, Smith was also the founding bassist in Blondie, departing the Debbie Harry-fronted group before they began their recording career.

Read More: The Story of Television’s Masterpiece, ‘Marquee Moon’

Although their records did not sell in large numbers, Television are considered one of the most influential groups of the punk and new wave movement that exploded out of New York City and CBGB in the ’70s, alongside acts such Talking Heads, Blondie and the Ramones.

“If you are a lover of melodic bass lines and counterpoint, you could go to school on what Fred created so effortlessly,” Rip explained in his Instagram tribute. “He was a natural — never flashy, always essential — always serving the song in ways that only the greatest musicians can.”

After Television split up in 1978, Smith appeared on solo albums by fellow band members Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd.

In 1992 Smith joined a Television reunion, with the band releasing their third and final studio album and then touring sporadically over the next three decades. Singer, guitarist and primary songwriter Verlaine died in 2023, seemingly ending the band’s career.

In 1999, Smith and his wife Paula Cereghino began a wine-making business in their New York City apartment. A few years later they moved upstate and in 2007 opened the Cereghino Smith artisanal winery.

Television