Dave Kendall, the British-born music writer and television host best known for creating and fronting MTV’s 120 Minutes, has died. According to the report, no cause of death was given. His friend Matt Pinfield, who later hosted the program, announced the news on Instagram, and Bangkok Post, where Kendall worked from 2017 to 2025, also published an obituary. He was 63.
Kendall began his career writing about music for publications in the UK and the U.S., including Melody Maker and Spin. In the 1980s, he moved to New York and joined MTV, where he worked for seven years as a writer, producer, presenter, and news reporter. He created 120 Minutes as a space for alternative music, and the show went on to become one of the most important outlets for the genre on television.
Launched in 1986, the program became closely associated with the rise of alternative rock in the mainstream. Kendall hosted it for three years and used the platform to spotlight acts such as Sonic Youth and Pixies. He also introduced the premiere of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” in 1991, a moment that helped define the band’s breakthrough. Beyond MTV, Kendall hosted and co-produced Music Scoupe, worked in radio and DJing, and later moved into digital journalism, including some of the earliest online video streaming shows.
He eventually returned to television, then settled in Thailand and joined Bangkok Post. In his tribute, Pinfield described Kendall as a true believer who gave alternative music a home long before it became fully accepted by the mainstream, and praised the way he connected with artists and fans.
Source: pitchfork.com
