Arthur Kane

Arthur Kane, the bassist of the influential 1970s punk band New York Dolls, died Tuesday at a hospital in Los Angeles, a few weeks after the surviving members of the original group had reunited to play their first concerts in almost 30 years. He was 55 and lived in Los Angeles.

The cause was leukemia, said Darren Hill, the manager of the reunited group. Kane had recently become ill and thought he had the flu, but learned he had leukemia just hours before he died, Hill said.

With trashy, cross-dressing pomp and a sound that amplified the rudiments of early rock ' n ' roll, the New York Dolls established the style that would dominate punk and glam-rock through much of the ' 70s. The band played ragged, powerful riffs while its singer, David Johansen, threw himself around the stage with theatrical abandon.

Kane, one of the group ' s original members, dressed as wildly as any of his band mates but by comparison appeared quiet and reserved. The band made only two albums and did not have any major hits, but its influence on rock ' n ' roll was enormous.

One of its big fans was Morrissey, of the British band The Smiths. Once the president of the New York Dolls ' British fan club, he persuaded the surviving members to play two concerts in London. Kane, Johansen and guitarist Sylvain Sylvain played at the Royal Festival Hall on June 16 and 18, with younger musicians filling in for the three deceased players, Johnny Thunders, Billy Murcia and Jerry Nolan.

The concerts sold out, and the band booked several other concert appearances for the summer, including one Aug. 14 with The Strokes, Iggy and the Stooges and Bo Diddley. Hill said the band would continue to play its concerts with another bassist.

Kane, who was born in New York, became a devoted member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and spent his last years working in one of the church ' s family history centers. There were no immediate survivors.

The New York Dolls had their biggest impact in the ' 70s, but with the return of stripped-down punk rock in recent years, the group ' s influence has come to be seen on a new generation of musicians. One, Gary Powell of the British group The Libertines, played drums with the reunited group in London.

" They ' re the start of modern-day rock ' n ' roll as we know it now The Strokes and The Hives and everyone else, " Powell told The Guardian. " To know where you ' re going, you ' ve got to know where you come from, and the New York Dolls is where we all come from. "