With his trademark rose-colored shades, black leather jacket, shoulder-length hair, ripped jeans and alternately snarling and crooning, hiccoughing vocals, Joey was the iconic godfather of punk. He gave voice to some of the most revered songs in the punk canon: "Blitzkrieg Bop", "Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment," "Rock 'n' Roll High School," "I Wanna Be Sedated", "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker."

Born in the Forest Hills section of Queens, New York, on May 19, 1951, Joey founded the Ramones in 1974 with Johnny, Dee Dee and Tommy. Originally the drummer, Joey switched to vocals two months after the band played it first show in March 1974 at New York's Performance Studio.

The group soon became a staple at the dingy New York punk club CBGB, home to fellow downtown bands Talking Heads, Patti Smith and Blondie. In 1975 the Ramones became the first punk band to sign a record contract. Their self-titled debut, recorded for $6,000, was released in 1976 and featured such rock landmarks as "Judy Is a Punk" , "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue" and "Beat on the Brat." 

Their 1977 album Ramones Leave Home featured a quintessential mix of gutter-punk anthems and homages to classic pop songs ("I Remember You," "Oh Oh I Love Her So"). It also featured the unofficial Ramones anthem "Pinhead," in which Joey sang, "I don't want to be a Pinhead no more/ I just found a nurse that I could go for."

The Ramones not only prodded bands such as the Sex Pistols, the Clash and X-Ray Spex to take up their instruments and take on the world, but they also laid the path for the next generation of new wave and punk bands to rock maximally with minimal flourish.

Inspired by the Ramones' wide-open subject matter — which ranged from sniffing glue to male prostitution to lobotomies — as well as by the music, '80s bands such as Hüsker Dü, the Replacements and Devo further exploded the notion of how rock could sound.

The Ramones released  Rocket to Russia, in 1977. Featuring such concert staples as "Cretin Hop," "Rockaway Beach" and "We're a Happy Family."  After trying their hands at the movies, starring in 1979's "Rock 'n' Roll High School," the group entered the studio with one of their idols, '60s "wall of sound" producer Phil Spector. The resulting 1980 album, End of the Century, included a cover of "Baby I Love You" by the Ronettes, who were fronted by one of Joey's favorite singers, Ronnie Spector (Phil's ex-wife).

The group followed with 10 more studio albums of speedy, anti-social punk and a relentless touring schedule, and enjoyed Beatlemania-style fame in Argentina and Japan.

Joey may have shared a last name with his bandmates, but familial love couldn't keep them from their constant bickering, leading to the Ramones' dissolution in 1996. After the group played its final show on August 9, 1996 — such fans as Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder and Soundgarden's Chris Cornell jammed with the Ramones that night — Joey continued to carry the torch for the music he loved.

In addition to producing an EP and an album by horror-ska rockers the Independents — whom he tirelessly championed and managed for much of the late '90s — Joey co-produced a 1999 EP by his idol Ronnie Spector.

The EP featured one of Joey's most poignant tunes, "She Talks to Rainbows," a ballad he wrote for the Ramones' 1995 studio swan song, Adios Amigos!. It was about a girl Joey would often see in his neighborhood, who he said looked like she was in her own world.

"She's a little lost girl in her own little world/ She looks so happy, but seems so sad/ Oh yeah/ I'd like to help her/ I'd like to try/ Oh yeah," Spector sang in her trademark yearning voice on the EP.

In addition to trying to help resurrect the career of his hero Spector, Joey was working on his debut solo album over the past three years.

Collaborating with long-time Ramones producer Daniel Rey, Ramone had written nearly 20 new tunes that he planned to record with a band that included Andy (a.k.a. Adny) Shernoff of the punk group the Dictators, Cracker drummer Frank Funaro and Rey on guitar.

Joey kept a low profile over the past few years, jumping onstage to belt out occasional Ramones songs at birthday parties in his honor thrown by his punk-rocker friends in New York. In February 2000, he buried the hatchet with former Ramones drummer Marky Ramone, recruiting Marky to play on a handful of his solo songs.

 

The Ramones, comprising Johnny Ramone (b. John Cummings, 8 October 1948, Long Island, New York, USA; guitar), Dee Dee Ramone (b. Douglas Colvin, 18 September 1952, Fort Lee, Virginia, USA, d. 5 June 2002, Hollywood, California, USA; bass, vocals) and Joey Ramone (b. Jeffrey Hyman, 19 May 1951, New York City, New York, USA, d. 15 April 2001, New York City, New York, USA; drums) made their debut at New York's Performance Studio on 30 March 1974. Two months later manager Tommy Ramone (b. Tommy Erdelyi, 29 January 1952, Budapest, Hungary) replaced Joey on drums, who then switched to vocals.   The band's debut appearance in London in July 1976 influenced a generation of British punk musicians, while Leave Home, which included "Suzy Is A Headbanger" and "Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment", confirmed the sonic attack of its predecessor. Rocket To Russia was marginally less frenetic as the band's novelty appeal waned, although "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker" gave them their first UK Top 30 hit in 1977.