Jimmy Webb, Punk Rock Stylist to the Stars, Dies at 62

Debbie Harry, Billie Joe Armstrong and Duff McKagan paid tribute to store manager of legendary Trash and Vaudeville

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JUNE 05: Mae McKagan and Jimmy Webb during the Mae McKagan Capsule Collection Launch at I NEED MORE on June 05, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Gonzalo Marroquin/Getty Images for Mae McKagan Fall/Winter 2019 Capsule Collection

Jimmy Webb, punk rock stylist and manager-buyer for famed New York City clothing store Trash and Vaudeville and the boutique I NEED MORE, died Tuesday morning at 62 after a long battle with cancer. Webb’s friend Tina “Heart” Montalbano confirmed his death to Rolling Stone.

As a stylist and shop owner, Webb’s clients included rock legends such as Iggy Pop, Joan Jett and Blondie’s Debbie Harry — many of whom took to social media to pay tribute.

“This is a heartbreaker. Jimmy, you are a treasure of New York. Always a positive energy. You always lived out loud,” wrote Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong on Instagram. McKagan added, “The sweetest man and pure punk f*cking rock n roll. Jimmy has SUCH a story, and my family and I feel honored and loved to be a small part of his triumphant tale. We love you Jimmy…we will miss you, brother.”

“We are all going to miss our wonderful friend Jimmy Webb,” Debbie Harry, who the business owner often credited as his muse, told The New York Post. “There goes a lovely unique NYC character. I feel lucky to have known him.”

After starting to work at Trash and Vaudeville in 1999, Webb later became a manager while working a side gig as a stylist for rock stars, using the store’s abundant collection of leather jackets, T-shirts, Doc Martens shoes and more, according to Rolling Stone.

In a 2007 interview with The New Yorker, Webb said when he moved to New York, he and got a job “delivering cocktails in a gay bar, and I could see where that would lead, and I wanted more. I wanted to dance and live, so I took off into the streets by myself with all the other runaway boys. No fear.”

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For the record: This story has been updated to include clearer attribution of sourcing to Rolling Stone.

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