A kind of proto-punk supergroup initially comprised of New York Dolls alums Johnny Thunders and Jerry Nolan along with onetime Television bassist Richard Hell, the Heartbreakers formed in 1975. After just one performance as a trio, the band added guitarist Walter Lure; their status as cult heroes grew quickly, but by the following year Hell exited to form the Voidoids, to be replaced by bassist Billy Rath. The Heartbreakers soon relocated to London (reportedly to investigate the British National Health Service's methodone program), where they supported the Sex Pistols on their aborted December 1976 tour.
