Jerry Nolan
American drummer (1946–1992)
Gerard Nolan (May 7, 1946 – January 14, 1992) was an American rock drummer, best known for his work with the New York Dolls and the Heartbreakers.
Career
A native of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Nolan joined the New York Dolls in the autumn of 1972 to replace Billy Murcia, who had died of asphyxiation as a result of a failed attempt to revive him from a drug overdose while on tour in England, early in the band's career. The Dolls got a record deal with Mercury Records in 1973. Nolan was also a childhood friend of Kiss drummer Peter Criss, who also auditioned for the Dolls at the same time. He previously played with Wayne (Jayne) County's "Queen Elizabeth", Billy Squier's "Kicks" and was the only male member of Suzi Quatro's Detroit-based band Cradle. Jerry was drumming for the power trio "Shaker", a New York band that frequently opened for the Dolls, when he was recruited to replace Billy. Nolan played on the Dolls' first two albums (New York Dolls and Too Much Too Soon).
After much internal fighting and a short stint under the helm of future Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren, Nolan left the Dolls together with Johnny Thunders in the spring of 1975. The two then placed a call to bassist Richard Hell, formerly of the Neon Boys and Television, to form the Heartbreakers. Soon, Walter Lure was brought into the fold and Hell was replaced by Billy Rath.
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This entry incorporates text from “Jerry Nolan” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.