Formed in Cleveland in 1976, the Dead Boys were one of the first American acts to combine the proto-punk fervor of bands like the Stooges and the New York Dolls with a new level of intense energy. The Dead Boys were initially active from 1975 to 1980, briefly reuniting a few times in the mid-1980s, and then later again in 2004 and 2005 for the first time without Bators, who had died in 1990. In September 2017, Chrome and Blitz reunited the band with a new line-up for a 40th anniversary tour along with a new album, Still Snotty: Young, Loud and Snotty at 40, a re-recording of their debut album. The new current lineup includes vocalist Jake Hout.