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33 CBGB Photos From The Heyday Of New York City Punk Rock

Jack Vartoogian/Getty ImagesTwo unidentified young men in leather jackets stand outside CBGB on Valentine’s Day 1983.

Shortly after it opened in 1973, the music club known the world over as CBGB became a New York City icon. Widely regarded as the place where punk rock was born, the club hosted some of music’s most iconic bands, including the Ramones, Talking Heads, and Blondie, who all used the club’s stage to forge their game-changing sounds.

With bands like these on stage, the venue defined the culture of downtown Manhattan throughout the 1970s and 1980s. It was a dark, dirty, no muss-no fuss bar that would draw huge crowds of young New York punk rock fans, musicians, and celebrities every night.

Because of all this, CBGB holds a special, albeit grungy, place in music history.

That history begins when CBGB OMFUG first opened its doors on Dec. 10, 1973. Nestled in Manhattan’s East Village neighborhood, the bar was located on the Bowery next to a slew of other bars and businesses.

In 1974, two locals named Bill Paige and Rusty McKenna convinced Kristal to book concerts at the bar. The first band to establish a residency was a rock act called Squeeze and with their residency, the musical genres for which the bar was named were gone and rock was there to stay.

In 2005, the CBGB landlord, the Bowery Residents’ Committee, sued the bar for $91,000 for back rent that was allegedly owed. The bar paid $19,000 a month in rent and the dispute arose when the rent had been increased over a period of many years without Kristal knowing about it.

Now, CBGB exists in the Newark airport as CBGB LAB (Lounge and Bar), while a high-fashion John Varvatos store stands on the ashes of the iconic CBGB location in the East Village.

Though a fashion boutique stands in its place today, CBGB of course played a monumental role in the history of music. It gave birth to a whole new genre and gave bands of multiple generations the chance to get on stage, work on their craft, and above everything else, rock out.