James Kenneth Webb (August 28, 1957 – April 14, 2020) was a

punk fashion Punk fashion is the clothing, hairstyles, cosmetics, jewellery, and body modifications of the punk counterculture. Punk fashion varies widely, ranging from Vivienne Westwood designs to styles modeled on bands like The Exploited to the dressed-dow ...

stylist and the long-time manager of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Trash and Vaudeville Trash and Vaudeville is a store located at 96 East 7th Street between Avenue A and First Avenue in East Village in Manhattan, New York. The store is associated with the clothing styles of punk rock and various other counter culture movements ...

. Webb worked at Trash and Vaudeville from 1999 until the store moved off of St. Marks Place in 2016. As a stylist, Webb helped to dress artists and musicians such as the

Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first true punk rock group. Despite achieving a limited commercial appeal in the United ...

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

Joan Jett Joan Jett (born Joan Marie Larkin, September 22, 1958) is an American singer, guitarist, record producer, and actress. Jett is best known for her work as the frontwoman of her band Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and for earlier founding and per ...

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and many others. On October 13, 2017, Webb opened his own rock boutique in New York City called "I Need More", named after a song by

Iggy Pop James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter and actor. Called the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Godfather of Punk", he was the vocalist and lyricist of ...

, at 75A

Orchard Street Orchard Street is a street in Manhattan which covers the eight city blocks between Division Street in Chinatown and East Houston Street on the Lower East Side. Vehicular traffic runs north on this one-way street. Orchard Street starts from ...

. The grand opening was attended by

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and

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from Guns N' Roses.

Early life

Born James Kenneth Webb in

Troy, New York Troy is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany a ...

, Webb grew up in nearby

Wynantskill, New York Wynantskill is a census-designated place (CDP) in Rensselaer County, New York, United States. The population was 3,276 at the 2010 census. Wynantskill is located at the northern town line and the northeastern corner of the town of North Green ...

. Webb's father, William, ran a two pump gas station which was attached to their family home. Webb and his two younger brothers were all encouraged to learn how to dance by their mother, Nancy. Webb graduated from high school three years early, at the age of 16 and briefly attended a community college in Connecticut before leaving school to hitchhike to Florida and New York. Webb began living in New York in 1975 and developed a heroin addiction. He initially settled on Fourth Street and Avenue D and spent some nights sleeping in

Tompkins Square Park Tompkins Square Park is a public park in the Alphabet City, Manhattan, Alphabet City portion of East Village, Manhattan, East Village, Manhattan, New York City. The square-shaped park, bounded on the north by 10th Street (Manhattan), East 10th ...

or the St. Marks Baths.

Death

Webb was diagnosed with cancer in 2018 and died at his apartment in Manhattan on April 14, 2020. He was survived by his brother Ronald. Musician,

wrote an Instagram tribute post for Webb in which he referred to him as "Proust in streetwear, showing his ass crack." On hearing of Webb's death,

Debbie Harry Deborah Ann Harry (born Angela Trimble; July 1, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and actress, best known as the lead vocalist of the band Blondie. Four of her songs with the band reached on the US charts between 1979 and 1981. Born in ...

remarked to the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'' and ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'', “We are all going to miss our wonderful friend Jimmy Webb. There goes a lovely unique NYC character. I feel lucky to have known him."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Webb, Jimmy 1957 births 2020 deaths American fashion designers Deaths from cancer in New York (state) People from Troy, New York People from Rensselaer County, New York Punk fashion Punk rock