Joey Ramone

1951-2001 R.I.P.

David Lee Beowülf

“joey”

At 5:45 PM on Easter Sunday, April 15, 2001, WFMU’s Diane Ferris played “Blitzkrieg Bop.” Unusual, because normally her show is extreme metal with lots of new punk mixed in.

I knew it…

At the Coney Island High reunion show with The Dickies and Murphy’s Law the previous Friday, a candle was lit on stage for Joey – a wish for speedy recovery was made, the old C.I.H. bartenders sang “I Remember You”…

Last October, Bobby Steele told me Joey was sick…

At about 5:47 PM – after “Blitzkrieg Bop” ended (it’s a Ramones song, less than two minutes, of course), she announced Joey had died. She mentioned that she’d heard he was sick only three weeks ago. Then she played a few more Ramones tunes and ended her show with “…see you, brother.”

Joey Ramone was born on May 19, 1951 (that’s Pete Townshend’s birthday, too), and died a month and a half before he hit 50. ◼