Today has seen the very sad announcement that Tommy Ramone has died, aged 62. He was the original drummer for The Ramones, playing on their first three studio albums. His passing now means that all of the original members of The Ramones have now left us. It’s truly a sad day for not just punk music but the music industry at large. Those first three albums are stone-cold classics, containing more classic songs in three records that most other bands create in an entire career. Added to this he wrote ‘I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend’ and the majority of one of punk’s most enduring singles: ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’. I was actually listening to Hey! Ho! Lets Go: The Anthology just before I heard he had passed. It never ceases to amaze me just how fresh and vital their material still sounds, and that anthology truly ranks as one of the greatest compilations albums ever made. Tommy had been suffering from bile duct cancer prior to his death. It’s a sad sad day – let’s just hope there’s one hell of a reunion gig going on somewhere beyond right now. RIP Tommy.
Tommy Ramone dies aged 62
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