How did Sylvain Sylvain die? Lenny Kaye pens emotional letter to ‘heart and soul’ of New York Dolls after death at 69
New York Dolls guitarist Sylvain Sylvain died on Wednesday, January 13. The news regarding his death was announced on the musician’s official Facebook page, followed by a tribute for Sylvain penned by his old friend Lenny Kaye. Sylvain was battling cancer for the past two and a half years. He was 69.
The post, put out by his wife Wanda O'Kelley Mizrahi, read, “As most of you know, Sylvain battled cancer for the past two and 1/2 years. Though he fought it valiantly, yesterday he passed away from this disease. While we grieve his loss, we know that he is finally at peace and out of pain. Please crank up his music, light a candle, say a prayer and let’s send this beautiful doll on his way.”
Who was Sylvain Sylvain?
Born in Cairo, Sylvain ended up in New York with his family after they fled Cairo. He joined the band New York Dolls in 1972 after becoming friends with band’s original drummer Billy Murcia in Queens school. Sylvain served as the guitarist, pianist, and vocalist for the rock band’s first two albums titled ‘New York Dolls’ and ‘Too Much Too Soon’.
He released his debut album in 1979 and may more until the late 1990s as a solo artist. He reunited with New York Dolls for their final albums including ‘One Day It Will Please Us to Remember Even This’, ‘Cause I Sez So’, and ‘Dancing Backward in High Heels’.
Sylvain raised his own medical funds
In 2019, a campaign was started by wife on GoFundMe to raise funds for Sylvain’s medical expenses after he was diagnosed with cancer. He had announced the tragic news regarding his illness on the platform and told his fans that he was seeking treatment from a “great doctor who may do the TRICK”. A few months later, in an update, Sylvain thanked everyone who had helped his raise funds for his treatment and wrote, “will be bringing your positive energy with me to the hospital tomorrow when I go for my third surgical procedure to remove cancer that has invaded me.”
He concluded his note by saying, “Please support my GoFundMe page if you haven't already. I am grateful for each and every one of you for your LUV and support.”
Lenny Kaye’s heartfelt note for Sylvain
In his tribute to Sylvain, fellow guitarist Lenny Kaye and long-standing member of the Patti Smith Group has most beautifully described the late musician’s role in the band and its accomplishments.
He wrote, “His role in the band was as lynchpin, keeping the revolving satellites of his bandmates in precision. Though he tried valiantly to keep the band going, in the end, the Dolls’ moral fable overwhelmed them, not before seeding an influence that would engender many rock generations yet to come.”
SYL: An Appreciation
Lenny Kaye
Sylvain Sylvain, the heart and soul of the New York Dolls, bearer of the Teenage News, passed into his next astral incarnation on Wednesday, January 13, 2021. Syl loved rock and roll. His onstage joy, his radiant smile as he chopped at his guitar, revealed the sense of wonder he must have felt at the age of 10, emigrating from his native Cairo with his family in 1961, the ship pulling into New York Harbor and seeing the Statue of Liberty for the first time.
It was he who looked across Lexington Ave. and saw the sign for the New York Doll hospital. Syl and a high school friend, Billy Murcia, were in the rag trade then, the aptly named Truth and Soul, handknit sweaters with a side of rock attitude. Hooking up with another classmate, John Genzale, and then, as bands will, Arthur Kane, and David Johansen, and Jerry Nolan, they became a quasar in the rock firmament; embodying trash, glam, garage-to-punk, the ambisexual affirmation of music played louder
His role in the band was as lynchpin, keeping the revolving satellites of his bandmates in precision. Though he tried valiantly to keep the band going, in the end, the Dolls’ moral fable overwhelmed them, not before seeding an influence that would engender many rock generations yet to come.
The New York Dolls heralded the future, made it easy to dance to. From the time I first saw their poster appear on the wall of Village Oldies in 1972, advertising a residency at the Mercer Hotel up the street, throughout their meteoric ascent and shooting star flame-out, the New York Dolls were the heated core of this music we hail, the band that makes you want to form a band.
Syl never stopped. In his solo lifeline, he was welcomed all over the world, from England to Japan, but most of all the rock dens of New York City, which is where I caught up with him a couple of years ago at the Bowery Electric. Still Syl. His corkscrew curls, tireless bounce, exulting in living his dream, asking the crowd to sing along, and so we will. His twin names, mirrored, becomes us.
Thank you Sylvain x 2, for your heart, belief, and the way you whacked that E chord. Sleep Baby Doll.
Sylvain, who revealed his cancer diagnosis back in 2019, is survived by his wife. According to Rolling Stone, his wife Wanda said that Mizrahi, who lived in Nashville, will be buried in New York.