Vinny Value Dies: Legendary NYC Hardcore Drummer Passes Away

Vinny Value, the legendary New York City hardcore drummer, has died. Value’s death was announced in a Facebook post from one of his former bands, Kill Your Idols. Value lived in Valley Stream, New York, the town where he grew up, with his wife and two children.

The Kill Your Idols tribute read in part, “We loved him, and he was beloved anywhere we went. Vinnie loved people, too. And his light was spread all over the world in his music and his travels with NRSV, Warzone, Grey Area, KYI, SSSP, and more.” The post referred to Value as having a “large personality, the only drummer we ever knew that was also a frontman from behind the drums.” The post also paid tribute to Value’s wife and children. Value’s real name was Vincent Verga.

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Value Was Featured in the 1995 Documentary, ‘N.Y.H.C.’

While the band Warzone also paid tribute to Value, crediting him with helping to write the band’s song, “We Won’t Forget,” which was written in tribute to the band’s late singer, Raybeez, who passed away in September 1997. According to one online profile, Value was a member of Warzone for five years. He had also been a member of Grey Area and The Arsons.

In addition to those bands, Value also founded S.S.S.P., Skinheads Still Scare People, with Mike De Lorenzo, in the wake of the demise of Kill Your Idols. Value was also a member of No Redeeming Social Value, a band featured in the 1995 documentary about the hardcore scene in New York, “N.Y.H.C.” During 2011, Value formed Kickstarts alongside Rick Lopez from The Casualties.

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In 2018, Value Was Diagnosed With a Serious Spinal Condition

According to a deactivated GoFundMe page, in May 2018 Value was diagnosed with a spinal injury. That page detailed that in 2013, Value suffered a compression fracture in his back. At the time the page was deactivated, just over $6,000 had been raised. Value wrote on the page that he had been diagnosed with a “chronic compression deformity of the t12 vertebrae and central disc protrusion at the t7-8. Value said that the had yet to consult with a neurosurgeon.

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In His Other Life as an Art Handler, Value Had ‘Touched Some of the Most Valuable Art of Our Times’

In October 2008, Value’s other career as an art handler was featured in the New York Times. At the time of the feature, Value was a member of Kill Your Idols. The intro the piece said that Value had “touched some of the most valuable art of our times.” Writer Emily Brady said that Value began working in the industry with the Dyansen Gallery in SoHo before moving to work for an art moving company in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

Value said of his job, “There’s an art to handling art. It’s not just about picking up a painting and moving it, or hammering a nail into a wall. It’s a lot more challenging than most people think. You have to know what you’re looking at, and you learn by experience. We become artists to figure out how we are going to hang something that weighs 300 pounds. There is engineering involved, and carpentry skills.” During the piece, Value mentioned his love of Frank Stella and said that he would prefer an original of Roy Lichtenstein’s to an Andy Warhol work.

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