Billy Murcia
{{Short description|American drummer (1951–1972)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{more citations needed|date=May 2009}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Billy Murcia
| image =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| alias =
| birth_place = Bogotá, Colombia
| birth_date = October 9, 1951
| death_place = London, England
| death_date = November 6, 1972 (aged 21)
| genre =
| occupation = Drummer
| years_active =
| label =
| associated_acts = New York Dolls
| website =
}}
Billy Murcia (October 9, 1951 – November 6, 1972) was an American musician who was the original drummer for the New York Dolls.Jacobson, Mark. [http://nymag.com/nymetro/arts/music/features/music2002/n_7736/ "The Icon: Doll Face"], New York (magazine), September 23, 2002. Accessed May 28, 2009. "Then came the sad pictures: Johnny and Jerry, RIP, and Billy Murcia too, their first drummer, a Colombian from Jackson Heights, dead in a London bathtub."
Biography
Murcia was born in Bogotá, Colombia, and raised in Jackson Heights, New York, United States.
He and Sylvain Sylvain both attended Quintano's School for Young Professionals, in the late sixties. It was at Quintano's that they met Johnny Thunders, also a student there. They made their musical debut in 1967, in a band called "The Pox".{{cite web|url=http://punkmodpop.free.fr/criminals_pic.htm|title=Criminals|publisher=The Mod Pop Archives|accessdate=May 1, 2010|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927172009/http://punkmodpop.free.fr/criminals_pic.htm|archivedate=September 27, 2011}} They owned and co-managed a clothing business called "Truth and Soul". Murcia was a fundamental ingredient of the original New York Dolls sound and played during their now-legendary series of weekly shows at the Mercer Arts Center.
While on a brief tour of England in 1972,[https://books.google.com/books?id=wVgywyV-2WEC&dq=%22Billy+Murcia%22+dead+OR+death+OR+died&pg=PA3 New York Rocker: My Life in the Blank Generation with Blondie, Iggy Pop, and ...] By Gary Valentine. Thunder's Mouth Press. p.3 Murcia was invited to a party where he began overdosing on pills similar to methaqualone. Rather than calling for an ambulance, most attending the party departed quickly. The few remaining put him into a bathtub and ran the water, where he then drowned. Please Kill Me:The Uncensored Oral History of Punk by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain, pg. 178-179, Grove Press, New York, 1996 He died before the New York Dolls recorded their first album and was later replaced by Jerry Nolan in 1973. The final gig of their tour, at the Manchester Hardrock, was canceled, and the band flew back to New York City. Murcia can be heard playing live with the New York Dolls on Lipstick Killers: The Mercer Street Sessions.
Johnny Thunders wrote a song called "Billy Boy", in honor of his friend and former band member. It was recorded on Que Sera Sera in 1985.
The song "Time", from David Bowie's Aladdin Sane album, references Murcia and his untimely demise.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{New York Dolls}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murcia, Billy}}
Category:Musicians from Bogotá
Category:Colombian rock musicians
Category:American punk rock drummers
Category:American male drummers
Category:Colombian emigrants to the United States
Category:People from Jackson Heights, Queens
Category:New York Dolls members
Category:20th-century American drummers
Category:Accidental deaths in London
Category:Deaths from asphyxiation