John Sicolo, the owner of the Newport TJ's venue, has died aged 66. He passed on the morning of March 14 at the Royal Gwent hospital. He had been in Hospital for a replacement knee operation, but the exact reason for why he dies is unknown at this point. The now famous venue first became a nightclub in 1973 when Sicolo bought it from the previous incumbents. Acts over the years have included the Manic Street Preachers, Oasis, Green Day and Primal Scream played gigs at the venue. It is claimed that Nirvana's Kurt Cobain proposed to Courtney Love on the night her band Hole played the venue in 1991.