September 16, 2004
Johnny Ramone 1948-2004
Johnny Ramone (first on the left) has left us.
The band retired just a few years ago... and just in time to see them drop off in a mad dash to eternity. Joey died in '01, Dee Dee followed suit in '02, and now Johnny is gone. Tommy Ramone (seated between Johnny and Joey) is the only surviving original member.
C.J. Ramone, Dee Dee's replacement on bass guitar, survives. But it's interesting that the Ramones have turned one of the big jokes of the movie This Is Spinal Tap -- appropriately, I say -- on it's head.
The other surviving Ramones are all the drummers: Tommy, Marky and Ritchie and Marky again.
If C.J. goes next then I'll raise a glass to him, and then laugh my ass off because the Ramones are clearly the anti-arena rock band and they've proven it!
So long, Johnny. Ya did good, my friend.
I heard about it on the radio today. So sad. Thanks for the tribute post.
Posted by: RP at September 16, 2004 09:40 PMIt hit me pretty hard when I heard it on the radio. He JUST hosted an event on Sunday here in LA for cancer research. I couldn't believe he died 3 days later. Thanks for your post.
Posted by: Mermaid at September 17, 2004 03:40 PMThanks for the tribute, Spork. Another of our high school heroes gone . . . those were fine days.
Posted by: at September 17, 2004 07:06 PMKirsten, was he at the event? I heard he was hospitalized a few months ago... though not sure if he was bedridden. If he was there to host it then, yes, it's surprising that a man can host an event and then die of prostate cancer only three days later.
Then again: if he lived life anything like he played a guitar, it's no surprise that he'd pound out every moment like it mattered more for it's impact than it's nuance.
A shock trooper to the end! :)
I wonder what he really died from. You don't die in five years from prostate cancer. Maybe 20 years, not five. He shall be missed.
Posted by: Azygos at September 18, 2004 11:36 PMSpork - he may not have been there. I heard many things: he would be there, he wouldn't be there, he was there, he wasn't there. And there were plenty of radio interviews leading up to the event. He did a radio interview that week. It may have been via phone. After he died, they replayed several of the interviews from the various people involved in the concert and in the band's evolution. Info was confusing as to what was accurate chronologically.
Posted by: Mermaid at September 19, 2004 03:50 PM