Rock Icon Tommy Ramone Has Died

12 Jul, 2014

Tommy Ramone, the drummer and last surviving original member of the American punk band the Ramones, whose aggressive and fast-driving songs spearheaded the punk-rock movement, has died at the age of 65, an associate said on Saturday.

The death was confirmed by Dave Frey, Director at Ramones Productions, the company that controls the band’s copyright. Frey declined to provide additional information.

Born Thomas Erdelyi in Budapest, Hungary, Ramone was the co-founder of the band and its drummer from 1974 to 1978. He was the last surviving member of its original quartet, who adopted pseudonyms ending with the surname “Ramone”.

The New York band, with mops of long hair, black leather jackets, torn jeans and sneakers, had limited chart success but deeply influenced scores of musicians who would go on to form bands such as the Clash, the Sex Pistols, Nirvana and Green Day.

They were seen as masters of minimalist, under two-and-a-half minute tunes played at blistering tempo, such as “Blitzkrieg Bop”, “I Wanna be Sedated”, “Rockaway Beach,” and “Sheena is a Punk Rocker.”

The band’s style, anchored by Tommy’s frenetic drumming, was partly a reaction against the bloated, and heavily produced rock music of the mid-1970s.

Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of fame in 2002, the Ramones eponymous first-album revitalized the rock scene.

“The Ramones got back to basics: simple, speedy, stripped-down rock and roll songs. Voice, guitar, bass, drums. No makeup, no egos, no light shows, no nonsense,” the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame said on its website.

Guitarist Johnny Ramone, born John Cummings, died of prostate cancer in 2004. Singer Joey Ramone, born Jeff Hyman, died of lymphoma in 2001. Bassist Dee Dee Ramone, born Douglas Colvin, died the following year of a heroin overdose.

Ramone had been in hospice care following treatment for cancer of the bile duct, and is survived by Claudia Tienan, his partner of 40 years, and other family members.

Reuters

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