Former MTV ‘120 Minutes’ Host Dead at 68

Dave Kendall, the British VJ who helped bring the sounds of the alternative rock nation into millions of homes in the late 1980s and early 1990s as the host and guiding force behind MTV‘s influential 120 Minutes, has died at age 68. The news was shared by fellow former MTV talking head and 120 Minutes host Matt Pinfield, who paid tribute to his friend and colleague in a post on Tuesday (July 14).

“Dave was one of the true believers,” wrote Pinfield on Instagram. “Long before alternative music found its way into the mainstream, he was there every week on 120 Minutes, introducing people to bands that would go on to define an era. He didn’t just host a show. He gave a home to music that deserved to be heard. He loved the music, respected the artists, and connected with fans in a way that always felt authentic. That’s a rare gift.” Pinfield gave no cause of death.

According to his bio, Kendall began his career as a journalist and editor, writing profiles and reviews for American and British newspapers and magazines including Melody Maker, Spin and the New York Post. After relocating from his native England to New York, he was hired by MTV to create 120 Minutes. He went on to spend seven years as a writer, producer, presenter and news reporter at the video music channel that once had tremendous star-making power.

In his role as host of 120 Minutes from 1988 to 1991, Kendall helped to promote a variety of alternative acts who went on to great fame, including premiering the video for Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” in September 1991. The show continued with Pinfield as host from 1995 to 1999, and then enjoyed a brief 2011-2012 revival, before being canceled by sister channel MTV2 in 2003.

Following his MTV run, Kendall went on to host and co-produce the nationally syndicated talk show Music Scoupe, as well as to host the internationally simulcast 1994 concert Soccer Rocks the Globe and anchor the Woodstock ’94 pay-per-view. In addition, Kendall worked extensively in radio, writing and hosting local and nationally syndicated shows. He also created an early video streaming site (alterworld), worked in content development at Soundbreak and had a seven-year DJ residency at New York’s Limelight; he released the mix CD A Voyage Into Trance, Volume 2, in 2002.

Kendall moved to Bangkok in 2011 to host and produce the travel show Destination Thailand. Beginning in 2017, he edited and wrote stories for the Bangkok Post.