Joey Ramone

The influential, and iconic frontman for the RAMONES. Commonly referred to as the godfather of punk, a title he shares with Iggy Pop. His visual trademarks were, circular shades, a leather jacket, a t-shirt, sneakers, jeans, dark hair, and his height. His vocal trademark was a voice which was part snarling, part rasping, part crooning, part moaning, part growling, and part screaming. He was born in 1951 as Jeffery Hyman, to Mrs. C. Lesher, and Mr. N. Hyman. He was SUPPOSEDLY born sterile, a question which has been disputed. He attended Forest hills high with his friends, Thomas "Tommy" Erdyli, Jonathan (or was it just John) "Johnny" Cummings, and Douglas "Dee Dee" Colvin, with whom he would start the RAMONES. After Three decades of success, along with a couple changes in ranks, Joey and Johnny decided to retire. Joey recorded one last album, a solo effort as a "This is the last you'll ever hear from me" album. It was released posthumously, a year after his death from lymphoma in 2001. He never married or had children, possibly because of his disputed ability to sire children, or simply because he never wanted any. He had a street in his hometown, NYC. He, along with the other RAMONES, have been a major influence on the Punk rock (Sex pistols, The Clash, Green Day) , Modern rock (Killers), Alternative rock (U2), and Heavy metal (Iron maiden, Metallica) genres. He is survived by his brother, Mickey Leigh.