Born: October, 22 1949 in Youngstown, OH
Died: June, 3 1990 in Paris, France

Singer, poet, and notorious punk. Iggy Pop called him the "the second best singer in Rock n' Roll, after Jim Morrison."

Little is known of Stiv's childhood outside of his membership with various local gangs and his family's poor economic standing. His history really begins with his short stint with the band Rocket from the Tombs. The band had only been playing for a few months when the band decided David Thomas', who was the founder of the band and original singer, vocals were to shreiking and invited Stiv to take over singing duties while Thomas moved to keyboards and saxaphone. Again the band decided the vocals weren't working to well and the position was then split between Stiv and Thomas. Eventually back stage fist fights and "creative differences" broke up the band in the middle of 1975.

After the breakup, David Thomas and Peter Laughner left to form Pere Ubu while Cheetah Chrome (Gene O'Connor), Johnny Blitz (John Madansky), and Stiv left to form a band called Frankenstein with local musicians Jimmy Zero (William Wilder) and Jeff Magnum (Jeff Halmagy). The band only played four shows in Cleveland and released one EP, entitled "Eve of the Dead Boys" which contained one Rocket From the Tombs song: "Sonic Reducer". The band broke up after only three months together.

In early 1976 Stiv was invited to New York by New York Dolls' guitar play Johnny Thunders. Stiv enjoyed the New York scene so much he invited the members from Frankenstein to join him. The band was reformed under the name The Dead Boys and played their first gig at CBGBs in July 1976. The band continued to play at CBGB's and opended for The Damned where they were spotted by Seymour Stein and signed to Sire Records. The band continued to play and record, releasing three albums (Young Loud and Snotty, We Have Come for Your Children, and Night of the Living Dead Boys). The Dead Boys broke up in 1979 after the break down of their US tour and the stabbing of their dummer Johhny Blitz.

Soon afterwards he moved Los Angeles with Frank Secish (Blue Ash guitar play) to work on his solo projects. He quickly signed with Bomp Records and spent the entirety of 1980 working on his solo album "Disconnected", an album of melodic rock tunes and a distinct change from his Dead Boy roots. The album had various well reviewed singles, and was finally released in late 1980. During this time, he had a impromptu jam session with Kim Fowley (The Runaways) and Jimmy Pursey (Sham 69). The session went so well that in 1981 Stiv was invited to England by the rest of Sham 69 to replace singer Jimmy Pursey (who was leaving on good terms, and had suggested Stiv).

They only recorded on album together. It was titled "Only Lovers Left Alive" and was a fairly stright forward Sham 69 style rock album with a heavy political bend. It was originally slated to be released as a Sham 69 album, but due to contract problems the band had to rename themselves The Wanderers to release the album in 1981. Stiv also took time out from recording to make an appearance in John Waters' movie Polyester as Bo-Bo Belsinger.

After the breakup of the Wanderers Stiv left to form the Lords of the New Church with Brian James (The Damned), Nick Turner (Barracudas), and Dave Treganna. However, the band was originally named The Damned Dead Sham Band, but only played on show under that name. The band recorded a total of three albums together: Lords of the New Church, Is Nothing Sacred?, and The Method to Our Madness. Outside of their music, the Lords were well known for their wild stage acts. In fact, in 1983 Stiv almost died on stage when his hand slipped while he was "hanging" himself by his microphone cord. (A stunt that he did very often) He passes out on stage and was taken to the hospital where, after regaining consciousness, he was informed he was clinically dead for a few minutes.

The band broke up in 1988 after the band had secretly tried to replace Stiv after he hurt his back by jumping off a stage in Spain. Stiv found out about the replacement but didn't tell the band. He had shirts made of the ad the band had put out looking for his replacement, and asked the band to put them on right before their encore at a show in London. When the band came back on stage for their encore, this dialogue ensued:
Stiv: Hey Brian, who's the new lead singer for The Lords Of The New Church?
Brian: You are, Stiv. Right?
Stiv: No. Sorry. I'm not. You're fired. And so are you. And you. You're all fired! Bye!
Stiv then walked off stage and drove off in a cab he had waiting outside. (Always the showman.)

After the breakup, Stiv moved to New York for a short time to record and release a live solo album entitled "Live at the Limelight". Also, he appeared in the movie Tapeheads as punk rocked Dick Slammer. After the recording Stiv immediatly moved back to Europe. He teamed up with Alan Lee (UK Subs) and Vom (Dr. and the Medics) to record a short demo tape. The tape was never publicly released and the band only played one gig in Shepard's Bush, Lodon before Stiv left again for Paris. A local Paris label Bondage Records put up the money for his second solo album, and Stiv immediatly went into the studio. The original plan was to only record two or three songs, but because recording was going so well the band continued to record more.

Sadly, the album as it was intended never saw the light of day. On June 3, 1990 Stiv was hit by a car while standing on the sidewalk. Amazingly, he picked himself up and walked home, only to die in his sleep later that night.

In 1996 Bondage Records released Stiv's last solo album under the name "The Last Race", against the band's wishes. They felt that it wasn't up to Stiv's standards, and should not be released out of respect.

Discography as a solo artist:
Disconnected - 1981 (Bomp Records)
The Last Race - 1996 (Bondage Records)

Filmography:
Polyester - 1981 (as Bo-Bo Belsinger)
Tapeheads - 1988 (as Dick Slammer)