Joey Ramone

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Joey Ramone
Joey Ramone (c.1980)
Joey Ramone (c.1980)
Background information
Birth name Jeffery Hyman
Born May 19, 1951
Forest Hills, New York, USA
Died April 15, 2001
New York, New York, USA
Genre(s) Punk rock
Occupation(s) Singer, Songwriter
Instrument(s) Vocals
Years active 1974 - 2001
Label(s) Sire
Associated
acts		 The Ramones
Website http://www.joeyramone.com/

Joey Ramone (May 19, 1951 – April 15, 2001), born as Jeffery Hyman, was an American vocalist and songwriter best known for his work in the legendary punk rock group the Ramones. He and bandmate Johnny Ramone (né John Cummings) were the only two members who stayed with the band until their retirement in 1996.

Hyman was 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) tall, with an ectomorphic form and a long shock of black hair that almost completely obscured his face. He suffered from obsessive-compulsive disorder. He was also born sterile, and thus never fathered any children. He never married.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early Life

Hyman grew up in Forest Hills, Queens, of Jewish heritage. He and future bandmates attended Forest Hills High School.

During his youth, he was by general accounts something of an outcast and had a dysfunctional family life; his parents divorced in the early 1960s. His mother, Charlotte, encouraged an interest in music in both him and his brother Mitchell (a.k.a. Mickey Leigh).

He was a fan of The Who, among other bands (particularly "oldies" and the Phil Spector produced "Girl Groups"). He took up drums at 13, playing throughout his teen years, and originally was the drummer for the Ramones. Upon Tommy Ramone's suggestion, he switched to vocals.

[edit] Ramones

Hyman was said to be the "heart and soul" of the Ramones, and his favorite songs from their repertoire often were the ballads and love songs. C.J. Ramone called him the "hippie of the group."

Hyman did not speak to guitarist Cummings for many years. This animosity began when Cummings "stole" Hyman's girlfriend Linda, whom Cummings later married, supposedly prompting Hyman to write "The KKK Took My Baby Away" for the Pleasant Dreams album. They also were strongly averse to each other's politics, Hyman being a left-leaning liberal while Cummings was a staunch conservative. The pair never truly resolved their differences.

[edit] Other projects

Joey Ramone was honored with the creation of "Joey Ramone Place" outside of CBGB in New York City.
Enlarge
Joey Ramone was honored with the creation of "Joey Ramone Place" outside of CBGB in New York City.

In 1994, he formed Sibling Rivalry with his brother Mickey Leigh. They had one release, the In a Family Way EP.

Hyman co-wrote and recorded the song "Meatball Sandwich" with Youth Gone Mad. For a short time before his death, he took the role of manager and producer for the punk rock group The Independents [1].

His last recording as a vocalist was singing backup vocals on the CD One Nation Under by the Dine Navajo rock group Blackfire. He appeared on two tracks, "What Do You See" and "Lying to Myself". The CD, released in 2002, won "Best Pop/Rock Album of the Year" at the 2002 Native American Music Awards. [2]

[edit] Death

Hyman died of lymphoma at New York-Presbyterian Hospital on April 15, 2001. He apparently had had lymphoma for a long time; he was sighted at a New York City cancer clinic that specializes in lymphoma in the mid 1990s. Countless memorials, both by fans and the rockers he influenced, followed.

He was listening to the song "In a Little While" by U2 when he died. [3] This was during U2's Elevation Tour, and from that point on during shows Bono would introduce the song as a tune that was originally about a lovestruck hangover but Joey turned it into a gospel song.

His solo album Don't Worry About Me was released posthumously in 2002, and features the single "What a Wonderful World", a cover of the Louis Armstrong standard.

On November 30, 2003, a block of East 2nd Street in New York City was officially renamed Joey Ramone Place. It is the block where Hyman once lived with bandmate Dee Dee Ramone, and is near CBGB, where the Ramones got their start. Hyman's birthday is celebrated annually by rock'n'roll nightclubs, hosted in New York City by his mother and brother.

[edit] Trivia

[edit] Discography

[edit] Ramones

[edit] Albums

[edit] Singles

  • "Blitzkrieg Bop" (1976)
  • "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" (1976)
  • "I Remember You" (1977)
  • "Swallow My Pride" (1977)
  • "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker" (1977)
  • "Rockaway Beach" (1977)
  • "Do You Wanna Dance?" (1978)
  • "Don't Come Close" (1978)
  • "Needles and Pins" (1978)
  • "She's the One" (1979)
  • "Rock 'n' Roll High School" (1979)
  • "Baby, I Love You" (1980)
  • "Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?" (1980)
  • "We Want the Airwaves" (1981)
  • "She's a Sensation" (1981)
  • "Psycho Therapy" (1983)
  • "Time Has Come Today" (1983)
  • "Howling at the Moon" (Sha-La-La)" (1984)
  • "Chasing the Night" (1985)
  • "My Brain is Hanging Upside Down (Bonzo Goes to Bitburg)" (1985)
  • "Somebody Put Something in My Drink" (1986)
  • "Something to Believe In" (1986)
  • "Crummy Stuff" (1986)
  • "A Real Cool Time" (1987)
  • "I Wanna Live" (1987)
  • "Pet Sematary" (1989)
  • "I Believe in Miracles" (1989)
  • "Poison Heart" (1992)
  • "Strength to Endure" (1992)
  • "Touring" (1993)
  • "Journey to the Center of the Mind" (1993)
  • "Substitute" (1993)
  • "7 and 7 Is" (1994)
  • "I Don't Want to Grow Up" (1995)
  • "The Crusher" (1995)
  • "R.A.M.O.N.E.S." (1996)

[edit] Releases

  • In a Family Way EP – Sibling Rivalry (1994)
  • Merry Christmas (I Don't Want to Fight Tonight) single – Joey Ramone (2001)
  • Don't Worry About Me – Joey Ramone (2002)
  • Christmas Spirit...In My House EP – Joey Ramone (2002)
  • Ramones: Leathers from New York EP – The Ramones and Joey Ramone (solo) (1997)

[edit] Singles

  • "I Got You Babe" (1982)
  • A duet with Holly Beth Vincent
  • "What a Wonderful World" (2002)

[edit] External links

Ramones

Joey Ramone • Johnny Ramone • Dee Dee Ramone • Tommy Ramone • Marky Ramone • Richie Ramone • Elvis Ramone • C. J. Ramone
Discography

Studio albums: Ramones (1976) • Leave Home (1977) • Rocket to Russia (1977) • Road to Ruin (1978) • End of the Century (1980) • Pleasant Dreams (1981) • Subterranean Jungle (1983) • Too Tough to Die (1984) • Animal Boy (1986) • Halfway to Sanity (1987) • Brain Drain (1989) • Mondo Bizarro (1992) • Acid Eaters (1993) • ¡Adios Amigos! (1995)

Live albums: It's Alive (1979) • Loco Live (1991) • Greatest Hits Live (1996) • We're Outta Here (1997) • You Don't Come Close (2001) • NYC 1978 (2003)

Compilations: Ramones Mania (1988) • All The Stuff (And More!) Volume 1 (1990) • All The Stuff (And More!) Volume 2 (1990) • Hey Ho! Let's Go: The Anthology (1999) • Ramones Mania Vol. 2 (2000) • Masters of Rock: Ramones (2001) • Best of the Chrysalis Years (2002) • Loud, Fast Ramones: Their Toughest Hits (2002) • The Chrysalis Years (2002) • The Best of The Ramones (2004) • Weird Tales of the Ramones (2005) • Greatest Hits (2006)

Tribute Albums: Ramones (1992) • We're a Happy Family (2003)

Films: Rock 'n' Roll High School (1979) • Lifestyles of the Ramones (1990) • Ramones - Around the World (1993) • We're Outta Here (1997) • End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones (2003) • Ramones: Raw (2004)
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