Founder of iconic punk club dies

Hilly Kristal, whose rock club CBGB served as the birthplace of the punk rock movement and a launching pad for bands like the Ramones, Blondie and Talking Heads, has died after a battle with lung cancer, his son said today. He was 75.

Kristal, who lost a bitter fight last year to stop the club’s eviction from its New York home of 33 years, died yesterday at Cabrini Hospital, said his son, Mark Dana Kristal.