Dave Kendall, MTV VJ And 120 Minutes Creator, Has Died

Dave Kendall, the journalist and former MTV VJ who created and hosted the iconic alternative rock video show 120 Minutes, has died. Matt Pinfield, who served as a 120 Minutes host years after Kendall, shared the news of his passing on Instagram last night. Right now, the circumstances of Kendall's passing and his are are unknown.

The British-born Dave Kendall started off as a music journalist, writing for magazines like Melody Maker and SPIN. In the mid-'80s, he moved to New York and went to work as a producer for MTV. There, he created 120 Minutes, which ran from 1986 to 2003. Kendall also served as the show's host from 1986 to 1992. During the years before the grunge boom, 120 Minutes served as a rare mainstream portal into subcultures that might have been hidden from them otherwise, a video version of college radio. Lots of people had their lives changed by catching something relatively obscure on 120 Minutes, and they have Kendall to thank for that.

Kendall went on to co-produce the short-lived syndicated music-themed show Music Scoupe in 1994. He served as co-host of that show alongside a very young Kelly Ripa. Kendall also anchored the Woodstock '94 pay-per-view, and he hosted a number of radio shows, including Hot 97's Planet Traxx, an early US showcase for rave music. In recent years, Kendall hosted shows on SiriusXM, and he lived in Thailand, where he worked for the Bangkok Post.