death of a legendary nyc niteclub icon

Don Hill

The passing of Don Hill was quite a shock to all who knew of Don Hill. A tall, slender, soft spoken soul, who loved NYC, the underground music scene and would rather be foreshadowed by the numerous bands he booked. 


Hill first managed The Cat Club back in the 80's and in 93' he opened his own club naming it Don Hill, with a huge support and following of the NYC punk and garage scene, which was so unheard of.  


My former boss and friend, Thomas Onorato, worked the door at Don’s in the 90's. "Hill was always willing to give emerging artists a chance, along with more established ones like Joey Ramone, Patti Smith, Debbie Harry, Iggy Pop, Courtney Love, Marilyn Manson and Jimmy James. He never had children, but in a way, we were all his children,” Thomas said.

“In the context of New York music and New York nightlife, all of these parties that kind of were game-changers—Squeezebox, TISWAS, Misshapes that became huge cultural phenomena—were all there,” Onorato said. “And every single time, he just opened up the door and said, 'What do you want to do, and how are we going to to do it?'”


First  Max's Kansas City, then CBGB's and Joey Ramone. Now with the death of Don Hill, nitelife in NYC will never be the same. 


At this time it is not known the cause of Don Hill's death. He was only 66 years young. Don Hill, RIP.