This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Johnny Ramone, the guitarist of the iconic NY punk godfathers Ramones, was a character and a caricature. He was the reason that the band always walked around in the leather jacket, sneakers and long black hair, he was the one who after being beaten up in a street fight so severely required brain surgery sparked the title of the "Too Tough To Die" album, and when he stole Joey's girlfriend in 1982 it was the inspiration for Joey to write the classic tune "The KKK Took My Baby Away."
Despite the bad blood that kept Johnny and Joey from being BFFs, they understood that their legacy, and the show, must go on, and they kept the band on the road and recording right up until the end. However this did not keep Johnny from visiting or even calling Joey as Joey laid in his death bed.
The epitome of keeping it real + punk rock, Johnny Ramone died two years ago today, here in LA, after a five-year struggle against prostate cancer. His ashes lie in Hollywood Forever Cemetery, and the song that he inspired is tonight's Midnight Movie.
