Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers

Following the New York Dolls' 1975 breakup, guitarist Johnny Thunders joined forces with drummer Jerry Nolan to launch the Heartbreakers, a band unrelated to Tom Petty's group. Ex-Television bassist Richard Hell completed the initial trio, which performed regularly in New York City and helped shape the emerging punk environment centered at CBGB. Thunders took over lead vocals, steering the music toward the gritty, trashy rock sound the Dolls had originated, yet nearly every number revolved around chasing the opposite sex or drugs—a reflection of the members' deep addictions to hard drugs, so pronounced that Thunders briefly considered calling the band "the Junkies."

Hell exited quickly once Thunders asserted clear leadership and left scant opportunity for Hell's own songs; Hell soon resurfaced fronting Richard Hell & the Voidoids. Bassist Billy Rath replaced him, and Walter Lure was added on second guitar. Still without a recording contract, the Heartbreakers landed a place on the U.K. Anarchy Tour in fall 1976 alongside the Sex Pistols, the Clash, and the Damned. Most dates were canceled amid widespread hostility toward punk, but the exposure created overseas demand that secured a deal with the Track label.

Issued in 1977, the debut album L.A.M.F.—an abbreviation for "Like a Mother F*cker"—failed to match the commercial success of the other Anarchy Tour acts, yet it later became recognized as a punk classic and introduced the drug anthem "Chinese Rocks," co-written by Ramones bassist Dee Dee Ramone. The quartet's punishing lifestyle soon forced a split, though the members reconvened sporadically until Thunders died from drug-related causes in 1991, followed by Nolan the next year. Numerous live albums have appeared over the decades, among them Live at Max's Kansas City '79, Live at the Lyceum Ballroom 1984, What Goes Around, and the remixed L.A.M.F. Revisited, plus many others. A video and DVD titled Dead or Alive documented a 1984 reunion concert in England. Guitarist Walter Lure died on August 22, 2020, at age 71 after a brief struggle with cancer.