The Ramones Group Members

Joey was the first mainstream-acknowledged punk star to die whose death was not due to a drug overdose or suicide, though his addiction issues were much publicised in various books on the Ramones. His passing was a sad shock to many, and seemed to signal the end of a generation. Countless memorials, both by fans and the rockers he influenced, followed. Joey was distinctive due to his towering height of 6 feet 6 inches, unbelievable skinniness, and long shock of black hair that almost completely obscured his face. Joey was known to have suffered from obsessive-compulsive disorder. Joey was born sterile, so he never fathered any children. He also never married.

Jeffrey Hyman (May 19, 1951 – April 15, 2001), better known as Joey Ramone, was the vocalist for the legendary punk rock group The Ramones. He and fellow band-mate Johnny Ramone were the only two members who stayed with the band until their retirement in 1996.

Joey grew up in Forest Hills, Queens. His mother, Charlotte, encouraged an interest in music in both Joey and his brother Mitchell Hyman a/k/a Mickey Leigh. Joey was a fan of The Who, among other bands (particularly "oldies"). He took up drums at 13, playing throughout his teen years, and was originally the drummer for the Ramones. Upon Tommy Ramone's suggestion that some particular parts of the band didn't work, he became the vocalist. Joey and his bandmates attended Forest Hills High School. He was said to be the "heart and soul" of The Ramones, and his favorite songs they had performed were often the ballads and love songs. CJ Ramone called Joey the "hippie of the group".

After the heyday of the Ramones in the mid-70s, they remained only an underground act throughout the 80s and 90s.

Joey died of lymphoma on April 15, 2001. His solo album Don't Worry About Me was released in 2002 and features the single What A Wonderful World, his cover of the Louis Armstrong chestnut.

Johnny Ramone:

Birth name: John Cummings

Date of Birth: 8 October 1948

Place of Birth: Queens, New York, USA

Date of Death: 15 September 2004

Place of Death: Los Angeles, California, USA. (prostate cancer)

Height: 5' 9" (1.75 m)

Best Known As: Lead guitarist for the punk rock group The Ramones

Sometimes Credited As: John Cummings, The Ramones

John Cummings was the lead guitarist for the punk rock group The Ramones. Along with vocalist Joey Ramone, he remained a member of the band throughout their career.

The Ramones song "The KKK Took My Baby Away" was written by Joey Ramone after his then-girlfriend, Linda, left him for Johnny. Embittered, the two would not speak to each other for the rest of the band's career. Johnny Ramone refused to call his former bandmate Joey, even when Joey was dying of cancer.

Alongside his music career, he appeared in nearly a dozen movies (including Rock and Roll High School) and documentaries. He also made television appearances on such shows as The Simpsons.

As a kid, he played in a band called the Tangerine Puppets. When he was older, he was known as a "greaser", though was later described as a tie-dye-wearing Stooges fan.

Although never a "closet Republican" (many around him said he was vocal about his opinions), Johnny made his political affiliation known to the world in 2002, when the Ramones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. After thanking everyone who made it possible, clad in his trademark T-shirt, ripped blue jeans and leather jacket, Johnny said "God bless President Bush, and God bless America,". He said in an interview, when questioned on his conservatism, "I was a Nixon man." His insistence on the band uniform of bowl haircut, leather jacket and white tennis shoes grated on some members, but his authoritarian style ultimately served to focus the Ramones. Johnny's hardcore attitude seems to have been balanced out by Joey's love for bubblegum pop, surf rock, love songs, and lefty political subversion.

On September 15, 2004, he died in his Los Angeles home after a five year battle with prostate cancer.

Dee Dee Ramone:

Dee Dee Ramone, born Douglas Colvin (September 18, 1952 - June 5, 2002) was a founding member of The Ramones, a heavily influential punk band. He was the bassist for the group until 1989 when he left to pursue his rapping career under the name Dee Dee King. He continued to record and write songs for the Ramones untill 1996, when the band retired.

In 1987 Colvin started a brief career as rapper Dee Dee King, and then formed The Chinese Dragons as well as Sprokkett with guitarist Richard Bacchus. He reunited with The Ramones one last time in 1996.

Colvin was found dead on the evening of June 5th, 2002, by his wife Barbara Zampini ("Barbara Ramone") at his Hollywood, California apartment. A heroin overdose was the official cause of death. He is interred in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California.

Tommy Ramone:

Thomas Erdelyi was born on January 29, 1952 in Budapest, Hungary) but grew up in Queens, one of the boroughs of New York City. He is the last surviving founding member of the punk rock band. Tommy was the original drummer and additionally managed The Ramones.

He was a student at Forest Hills High, and together they played in a band called The Tangerine Puppets, Tommy played lead guitar. It was not too much later that the enterprising youngster entered the music biz working at the Dick Charles recording studio, a place that gave birth to most of the staff for the original and prestigious Record Plant, where he was assistant engineer on the Jimmy Hendrix staff, this was the days of The Band of Gypsies.

By the time The Ramones started practicing Tommy and a partner (Monte Melnick) had a studio called Performance Studios where he allowed the young Ramones to come and rehearse. In those days Joey played the drums and Dee Dee sang lead but as Tommy's involvement with the band increased he soon realized Joey's potential as a front man, and when they could not find anybody to replace Joey on the drums Tommy became the Ramones drummer.

Tommy was a force on both management and creative aspects of the band's all-important Classic Period From 1974 to 1977 that includes the first three albums containing some of the best and most often performed songs on the band's live concerts. When Tommy decided to return to "civilian life" his choice of course was music production. The artists he has worked with include The Replacements, Redd Kross, The Rattlers and the Talking Heads. In 1984 he produced one more album for the Ramones, Too Tough To Die - a fitting title to a reunion of old friends.