Joey Ramone has died

[Tom Roche]

8:30PM EDT NYC AP




 Punk rock legend Joey Ramone dead at 48 

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 (New York-AP) -- Punk rock icon Joey Ramone has died, at the age of 48. The
 singer passed away this afternoon from lymphoma at New York Presbyterian
 Hospital. 

 The Forest Hills native was diagnosed with the disease last month. 

 Joey became the lead singer of the Ramones only after his drumming proved too
 rudimentary to keep up with his bandmates' thunderous riffs. 

 Joey Ramone was born Jeffrey Hyman on May 19th, 19-52. His career started
 during the early 19-70s glam-rock era, when he played in several New York bands -
 occasionally under the name Jeff Starship. 

 But his collaboration with Dee Dee, Johnny and Tommy Ramone was something
 special. They became fixtures in downtown clubs like Max's Kansas City, joining
 fellow punkers like Patti Smith and Richard Hell. 

  
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 Obituary - Joey Ramone, punk founding father, dead at 49


   Joey Ramone, punk founding father, dead at 49 
   
   By LARRY McSHANE
   The Associated Press
   4/15/01 9:06 PM
   
   NEW YORK (AP) -- Singer Joey Ramone, the punk rock icon whose
   signature yelp melded with the Ramones' three-chord thrash to launch
   an explosion of bands like the Clash and the Sex Pistols, died
   Sunday. He was 49.
   
   Ramone, the gangly lead singer with the leather jacket, tinted
   glasses and permanently-torn jeans, was hospitalized in March 2001
   with lymphoma. His death was confirmed Sunday by Arturo Vega, the
   Ramone's longtime artistic director.
   
   The Ramones -- its four members adopted the common last name after
   forming the band in 1974 -- came out of Queens, a motley collection
   of local losers with limited musical skills. Joey became the lead
   singer only after his drumming proved too rudimentary to keep up with
   his bandmates' thunderous riffs.
   
   While British bands such as the Sex Pistols and Clash received the
   media attention once punk rock exploded, both were schooled by the
   Ramones' tour of England that began on the U.S. Bicentennial -- July
   4, 1976.
   
   "They changed the world of music. They rescued rock and roll from
   pretentiousness and unnecessary adornments," said Vega.
   
   Their "do-it-yourself," garage-rock influence still echoes today in
   bands like Green Day and the Offspring. The low-tech Ramones spent
   just two days and $6,000 recording their 1976 debut album.
   
   "They're the daddy punk group of all time," said Joe Strummer, lead
   singer of the Clash, in a recent Spin magazine interview.
   
   Despite their influence and critical acclaim, the Ramones never
   cracked the Top 40.
   
   Bruce Springsteen, after seeing the Ramones in an Asbury Park, N.J.,
   club, wrote "Hungry Heart" for the band -- but his manager convinced
   The Boss to keep the eventual hit single.
   
   The Ramones' best-known songs reflected their twisted teen years in
   Queens: "Beat on the Brat," "I Wanna Be Sedated," "Now I Wanna Sniff
   Some Glue," "Teenage Lobotomy," "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker."
   
   Joey Ramone was born Jeffrey Hyman on May 19, 1951. His career
   started during the early 1970s glam-rock era, when he played in
   several New York bands -- occasionally under the name Jeff Starship.
   
   But his collaboration with Dee Dee, Johnny and Tommy Ramone was
   something special. They became fixtures in downtown clubs like CBGBs
   and Max's Kansas City, joining fellow punkers like Patti Smith and
   Richard Hell.
   
   The scene eventually produced commercially successful bands like
   Blondie and the Talking Heads.
   
   The Ramones recorded their first album of two-minute, three-chord
   blasts in February 1976. The band then earned a loyal cult following
   with a seemingly endless string of tours where they would crank out
   30 songs in 90 minutes.
   
   In 1979, Joey and the band appeared in the Roger Corman movie "Rock
   N' Roll High School," contributing the title song to the soundtrack.
   They also did the title track for the film "Pet Semetary," based on
   the book by Ramones fan Stephen King.
   
   Their last real stab at commercial success came in a bizarre 1980
   collaboration with producer Phil Spector -- a session that bassist
   Dee Dee Ramone recalled most for Spector's pulling a gun on the band
   inside his Beverly Hills mansion.
   
   Joey eventually wound up singing a syrupy version of Spector's
   classic "Baby, I Love You" -- the strangest recording of the band's
   22-year career. The Spector-produced "End of the Century" did become
   the Ramones' best-selling record, hitting No. 44 on the charts.
   
   Five years later, the band released "Bonzo Goes to Bitburg" -- Joey
   Ramone's angry rant about President Reagan's visit to a German
   military cemetery.
   
   The Ramones disbanded in 1996 after a tour that followed their final
   studio album, "Adios Amigos." A live farewell tour album, "We're
   Outta Here!", was released in 1997.
   
   Since the band's demise, Joey Ramone kept a fairly low profile --
   occasionally popping up to perform or host shows at Manhattan clubs,
   making occasional radio show appearances, and working on a solo album
   that was never released.