In 2005, the CBGB landlord, the Bowery ResidentsвЂ™ Committee, sued the bar for $91,000 for back rent that was allegedly owed. The End Of An EraДЄfter years in decline, a dispute over rent became the final nail in CBGB's coffin. What once used to be a cultural institution gradually transformed into a shadow of what it once was. This change in the city affected the ever-grungy CBGB and the bar slowly began to lose its place in a changing city. In the 1990s, Mayor Rudy Giuliani took office in New York and - with his help, though a number of factors were involved - the once gritty and dangerous city began to undergo widespread gentrification. Nevertheless, the crowd got to hear the band perform the song, which reached number four on the Hot 100 charts two years later, for one of the very first times ever.Д«ut although CBGB was now a rock institution, its long decline would soon get underway. One such moment came in 1987 when Guns n Roses took the stage to play a song that they had only played twice before called вЂњPatience.вЂќ The song was so new that Axl Rose admitted, 'I have to read the f-cking words.' вЂњWe called this music 'street rock' and later 'punk' вЂ“ 'come as you are and do your own thing' rock and roll.вЂќДЇollowing the booking of Squeeze, bands like Television, the Ramones, the Talking Heads, the Patti Smith Group, and Blondie became staples on the CBGB stage. вЂњThe formula-driven disco music and the long drawn out solos and other complexities in much of the rock of the late sixties and early seventies encouraged a lot of disgruntled rock enthusiasts to seek the refreshing rhythms and sounds of simple (back to basics) high energy rock and roll, which seemed to take shape right here at CBGB,вЂќ Kristal said. 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.ДЄs the 1970s went on, the era of disco had begun to fade out and вЂњstreet rockвЂќ began to take its place. In 1974, two locals named Bill Paige and Rusty McKenna convinced Kristal to book concerts at the bar. Kristal might have intended for his bar to focus on country, bluegrass, and blues, but early in its rich, three-decade history, the bar transformed into the worldwide headquarters of rock and punk music. вЂњAnd what is a gormandizer? ItвЂ™s a voracious eater of, in this case, music.вЂќ вЂњThatвЂ™s more of what we do, it means вЂњother music for uplifting gormandizers,вЂќ Kristal explained. вЂњIt stands for the kind of music I intended to have, but not the kind of music that we became famous for: Country, Bluegrass, and Blues,вЂќ Kristal said in a 1998 interview.ДЄs for the OMFUG, its origin is a little bit more peculiar. When owner Hilly Kristal opened the bar, he gave it its name based on the music he thought would be shown onstage. Nestled in ManhattanвЂ™s East Village neighborhood, the bar was located on the Bowery next to a slew of other bars and businesses. The Birth Of CBGB OMFUGД¬BGB OMFUG first opened its doors on Dec. 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.Д«ecause of all this, CBGB holds a special, albeit grungy, place in music history. With bands like these on stage, the venue defined the culture of downtown Manhattan throughout the 1970s and 1980s. 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.

Shortly after it opened in 1973, the music club known the world over as CBGB OMFUG became a New York City icon.

East village venue where ramones played