RIP: The Heartbreakers’ Guitarist and Johnny Thunders Bandmate Walter Lure Dead at 71

Today is sad day for the punk world as Walter Lure, one of the final surviving members of the influential first-wave punk supergroup the Heartbreakers, has passed away at the age of 71. Lure passed away from complications caused by lung and liver cancer, according to a statement made by Cleopatra Records. His passing was mentioned by the venue Starwood based out of Hollywood and by Lure’s final group Walter Lure & the Waldos.

The Heartbreakers were formed in 1975 and fronted by the late Johnny Thunders, who would record the band’s first and only studio album L.A.M.F. in 1977. Lure was an integral member of the group, playing guitar and even contributing a few vocals on the album for the songs “One Track Mind,” and “All By Myself.” While another Heartbreakers founding member Richard Hell, is still alive, Hell left the group before the release of L.A.M.F.

Lure would remain close to Thunders after the Heartbreakers split in the late 1970s., The artist would go on to perform guitar on various Thunders’ solo albums including 1978’s So Alone and 1983’s In Cold Blood. He also had a writing credit for London Boys” from So Alone alongside Thunders and fellow Heartbreakers member Billy Rath.

Despite growing older in age, Lure never abandoned his punk spirit, which was alive and present with his final group Walter Lure & the Waldos. The group’s second album Wacka Lacka Boom Bop A Loom Bam Boo was released in 2018 and captured the pioneering punk spirit Lure had helped pave the way for in the 1970s.