20th century CBGB was founded on December 10, 1973, on the site of Kristal's earlier bar, Hilly's on the
Bowery, which he ran from 1969 to 1972. Its iconic logo was designed by Karen Kristal. Kristal's intended theme of country, bluegrass, and blues music along with poetry readings yielded to the American movement in
punk rock. A pioneer in the genre,
Ramones played their first shows at CBGB. In 1973, while the future
CBGB was still Hilly's, two locals, Bill Page and Rusty McKenna, convinced Kristal to let them book concerts. In February 1974, Hilly booked local band Squeeze to a residency, playing Tuesdays and Wednesdays, the club's change from country and bluegrass to original rock bands. Squeeze was led by guitarist Mark Suall, later with CBGB's quasi house band the Revelons, which included Fred Smith of Television and JD Daugherty of the Patti Smith Group. Although these bands did not play
punk rock, they helped lay its foundation. The August 1973 collapse of the
Mercer Arts Center left unsigned bands little option in New York City to play original music. Mercer refugees—including
Suicide,
the Fast,
Ruby and the Rednecks,
Jayne County, and the Magic Tramps—soon played at CBGB. On April 14, 1974, in the audience of
Television's third gig were
Patti Smith and
Lenny Kaye, whose Patti Smith Group debuted at CBGB on February 14, 1975. Television had begun playing the club after
Richard Hell and
Tom Verlaine persuaded Kristal to give the band a Sunday-night slot, a booking that has been credited with initiating CBGB's punk era. Other early performers included the Dina Regine Band. Dennis Lepri was lead guitarist as well as the Stillettoes which included
Deborah Harry on vocals. The newly formed band Angel and the Snake, later renamed
Blondie, as well as
Ramones arrived in August 1974.
Mink DeVille,
Talking Heads,
the Shirts,
the Heartbreakers,
the Fleshtones, and other bands soon followed. During this era, media coverage was mostly provided by the
SoHo Weekly News,
Punk, and
New York Rocker, while the more established papers such as
The Village Voice and
The New York Times largely stayed away. In April 1977,
the Damned played the club, marking the first time a British punk band had ever played in America. During 1975 and 1976,
Metropolis Video recorded some shows on film. Beginning in 1977, Metropolis Video filmmaker Pat Ivers and partner Emily Armstrong continued to record shows in a project called Advanced TV, later renamed
GoNightclubbing. Ivers' and Armstrong's films are available at the New York University Fales Library. CBGB's two rules were that a band must move its own equipment and play mostly original songs, although regular bands often played one or two covers in set. CBGB's growing reputation drew more and more acts from outside New York City. In 1978,
new wave songwriter
Elvis Costello would open shows for
the Voidoids, while
the Police played at CBGB for their first American gigs. Meanwhile, CBGB became famed for
Misfits,
Television,
Patti Smith Group,
Mink DeVille,
Dead Boys,
the Dictators,
the Fleshtones,
the Voidoids,
the Cramps,
the B-52's,
Blondie,
Joan Jett & the Blackhearts,
the Shirts, and
Talking Heads. Yet in the 1980s,
hardcore punk's New York underground was CBGB's mainstay. Named "thrash day" in a documentary on hardcore, Sunday at CBGB was
matinée day, which became an institution, played from afternoon until evening by hardcore bands such as
Reagan Youth,
Bad Brains,
Beastie Boys,
Agnostic Front,
Murphy's Law,
Cro-Mags,
Leeway,
Warzone,
Gorilla Biscuits,
Sick of It All,
Misfits,
Sheer Terror,
Stillborn and
Youth of Today. In 1990, violence inside and outside of the venue prompted Kristal to suspend hardcore bookings, although CBGB brought hardcore back at times. CBGB's last several years had no formal bans by genre.
21st century In 2005, atop its normally paid monthly rent of $19,000, CBGB was sued for some $90,000 in rent allegedly owed to its landlord, Bowery Residents' Committee (BRC). Refusing to pay until a judge ruled the debt legitimate, Kristal claimed that he had never been notified of scaled rent increases, accruing over a number of years, asserted by BRC's executive director Muzzy Rosenblatt. A nonprofit corporation housing homeless above CBGB mostly through donations and government funding, Planning to move CBGB to
Las Vegas, Kristal explained, "We're going to take the urinals. I'll take whatever I can. The movers said, 'You ought to take everything, and auction off what you don't want on eBay.' Why not? Somebody will".
Closure Many
punk rock bands played at CBGB when they found it was going to close in hopes that their support could keep it from closing. Rocks off, a promoter in New York, organized CBGB's final weeks of shows to book "many of the artists who made CB's famous". On October 15, 2006, upon Patti Smith's last show at CBGB, the storied bar and club closed.
Aftermath After closing, the old CBGB venue remained open as
CBGB Fashions—retail store, wholesale department, and an online store—until October 31, 2006. CBGB Fashions moved to 19–23
St. Mark's Place on November 1, and closed nearly two years later in summer 2008. Hilly Kristal died from complications of
lung cancer on August 28, 2007. In early October, Kristal's family and friends hosted a private memorial service in the nearby
YMCA. Soon, there was a public memorial, contributed to by CBGB onetime staff and by others. Kristal's ex-wife Karen Kristal and his daughter, Lisa Kristal Burgman, battled legally over the purported $3 million CBGB estate, and settled in June 2009 with Burgman receiving most of the money left after payment of creditors and estate taxes. In 2011, a group of unknown investors bought the remaining CBGB assets, including the associated intellectual property and original interior. The location is now occupied by
John Varvatos fashions. In December 2015, various news outlets reported on a rebranded CBGB "reopening" at Newark International Airport as CBGB L.A.B. (Lounge and Bar) by New York chef Harold Moore, which had opened as of the end of December 2015. ==Subsequent occupants==