Hilly Kristal is seen in the CBGB club in this Dec. 16, 1993, file photo. Kristal, who helped launch the punk rock movement at the New York club, died Tuesday at 75.

New York ? Hilly Kristal had no idea what he was unleashing when he welcomed a rash of unknown bands in his dank Bowery dive: Television, the Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads, the Patti Smith Group.

Kristal, a New Jersey farm boy whose musical tastes ran to tamer fare, had opened CBGB as a haven for country, blues and bluegrass music. Instead, his cramped club became the epicenter of the punk rock movement, setting off a three-chord musical revolution that spread around the world.

Kristal, 75, died of complications from lung cancer at a Manhattan hospice after a long fight with the disease, his family announced Wednesday. CBGB closed last October with a blowout concert by Smith and her band, ending a 33-year run.

Kristal was an unlikely avatar of punk music, opening his own club in 1973 after booking acts such as Miles Davis at the Village Vanguard. “At first, they didn’t play so well,” he once said of the seminal punk bands that came to CBGB.

But he became a beloved figure to the performers who used his small venue as a launching pad to stardom, including several that reached the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

“In an era when disco was the mainstream, Hilly took a chance and gambled,” said drummer Marky Ramone. “The gamble paid off for him and for us. We are all grateful to him.”

In recent years, CBGB became embroiled in a bitter rent fight with its landlord, the Bowery Residents’ Committee, an agency housing the homeless. Despite the efforts of musicians to keep the club open, Kristal – who owed a reported $300,000 in back rent – agreed to vacate the club last October.