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John William Cummings (October 8, 1948 – September 15, 2004), better known by his stage name Johnny Ramone, was an American musician who was the guitarist and a founding member of the Ramones, a band that helped pioneer the Punk subculture movement. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. Until the band's disbandment in 1996, Johnny, along with the lead vocalist Joey Ramone, were the only two original members who stayed since its inception, and appeared on every one of the band’s albums.
In 2009, Ramone appeared on Times list of "The 10 Greatest Electric-Guitar Players". He ranked No. 8 on Spins 2012 list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and No. 28 on Rolling Stones similarly titled 2015 list. Alongside his music career, Ramone appeared in nearly a dozen films, in documentaries, and on television. Ramone's autobiography, Commando, was released posthumously in 2012.
As a teenager, Cummings played in a band called the Tangerine Puppets alongside future Ramones drummer Tamás Erdélyi (better known as Tommy Ramone). Cummings was known as a "greaser", though he was later described as a tie-dye-wearing The Stooges fan. He was a lifelong New York Yankees fan. Cummings also worked as a plumber with his father before the Ramones became successful. He said he attended Peekskill Military Academy in Peekskill, New York.Melnick, Monte A. and Frank Meyer, On the Road with The Ramones: Updated Edition, 2007, Bobcat Books, p.41-43
The Ramones played before an audience for the first time on March 30, 1974, at Performance Studios. The band's debut album, Ramones, was greeted positively by rock critics. The album was not a commercial success, reaching only number 111 on the Billboard charts album chart. Their next two albums, Leave Home and Rocket to Russia, were released in 1977. Rocket to Russia was the band's highest-charting album to date, reaching number 49 on the Billboard 200. In 1978, the band released their fourth studio album, Road to Ruin. It failed to reach the Billboard Top 100. However, "I Wanna Be Sedated", which appeared both on the album and as a single, would become one of the band's best-known songs. The artwork on the album's cover was done by Punk magazine cofounder John Holmstrom.
After the band's movie debut in Roger Corman's Rock 'n' Roll High School (1979), producer Phil Spector became interested in the Ramones and produced their 1980 album End of the Century. There is a long-disputed rumor that during the recording sessions in Los Angeles, Spector held Johnny at gunpoint, forcing him to repeatedly play a riff.
Pleasant Dreams, the band's sixth album, was released in 1981. It continued the trend established by End of the Century, taking the band further from the raw punk sound of its early records. (1991). 9780020363613, Collier. ISBN 9780020363613 Johnny would contend in retrospect that this direction was a record company decision, a continued futile attempt to get airplay on American radio.
Subterranean Jungle, produced by Ritchie Cordell and Glen Kolotkin, was released in 1983. According to Trouser Press, it brought the band "back to where they once belonged: junky '60s pop adjusted for current tastes", which among other things meant "easing off the breakneck rhythm that was once Ramones dogma."
Johnny Ramone was responsible for initiating one of the major sources of animosity within the band when he began dating and later married Linda Daniele, who had previously dated Joey Ramone. Though the band remained together for years after this incident, relations between Johnny and Joey remained strained.
The Ramones performed 2,263 concerts, touring virtually nonstop for 22 years. On August 6, 1996, after a tour with the Lollapalooza music festival, they played a farewell concert at the Palace in Hollywood and disbanded.Schinder (2007), pp. 559–560.
Recognition of the band's importance grew over the years. The Ramones ranked number 26 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time" and number 17 in VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock". In 2002, the Ramones were ranked the second-greatest band of all time by Spin, trailing only The Beatles. On March 18, 2002, the original four members and Tommy's replacement on drums, Marky Ramone, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. In 2011, the group was awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
In 2001, Johnny appeared in an English-language Spanish science fiction film called Stranded.
Johnny saw himself as a rhythm guitarist. For the most part, he disliked lengthy guitar solos, and consequently never attempted to gain much skill in this area of playing. Despite this, Johnny did play simple lead guitar parts on a small number of Ramones recordings, such as "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue" and "California Sun". A brief guitar solo can also be found on live versions of "I Can't Make It on Time", in which Johnny plays a descending E minor pentatonic scale, ending it off with a whole step bend. However, the infrequent guitar solos on the group's studio albums were usually overdubbed by Tommy Ramone, Ed Stasium, Daniel Rey, Walter Lure and other uncredited guests.Sharby Coms, "How The West Was Lost", in Mojo Punk Special Edition, p. 94 Most of these small leads were only added in an attempt to give certain songs a more commercial appeal; they were not common on the band's albums.
For example, Dictators bassist Andy Shernoff states that Jimmy Page's rapid downstroke guitar riff in "Communication Breakdown", an influential song that contained elements of protopunk, was an inspiration for Johnny Ramone's downstroke guitar style.Everett, True, Hey Ho Let's Go: The Story of The Ramones (2002): 13 Ramone, who has described Page as "probably the greatest guitarist who ever lived", stated in the documentary Ramones: The True Story that he improved his downstroke style by playing the song over and over again for the bulk of his early career. Recording engineer Ed Stasium once stated "Johnny makes it sound simple, but I can't do it, and I bet Eddie Van Halen can't. Not for an hour!". His style has also been an influence on many alternative rock bands, as well as on thrash metal performers such as James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett of Metallica, Dave Mustaine of Megadeth and Scott Ian of Anthrax. Guitar virtuoso Paul Gilbert has cited Johnny Ramone as one of his influences.
In 1985, Joey Ramone, Dee Dee Ramone and Jean Beauvoir composed the song "Bonzo Goes to Bitburg" for the Ramones, which criticized President Ronald Reagan's controversial visit to a German military cemetery. The song was rush-released as a single in the UK, but the song was retitled "My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down" when it appeared on the album Animal Boy (1986). Johnny later said, "They couldn't talk about my favorite president like that. So we agreed to use another title."
Johnny made his political affiliation known to the world in 2002, when the Ramones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. After thanking all who made the honor possible, he said, "God bless President Bush, and God bless America".
In a 2003 interview, Johnny reiterated, "I think Reagan was the best President in my life." He also stated that he believed that "punk is right wing", adding that "when you think of who punks are, they're greasers, people who didn't fit in, but they didn't back down either. Who above all, love America." (Interview conducted April 2, 2003, published December 2008)
Johnny was quoted by The Guardian as saying, "I figure people drift toward liberalism at a young age, and I always hope that they change when they see how the world really is."
Johnny married his first wife, Rosana Cummings, in 1972. However, by 1976, they split up.
In 1983, Johnny was severely injured in a fight with Seth Macklin of the band Sub Zero Construction. He was saved by emergency brain surgery and, according to a reporter at the time, "got better fast. He plays the same but his hair is a little shorter." Johnny later said, "I was ready to play in three months, and our next album would be titled Too Tough to Die".
Johnny married his second wife, Linda Ramone, in 1994 at the office of the city clerk in New York City. She had originally dated Joey Ramone, but left him for Johnny. Joey and Johnny continued to tour as the Ramones after this, but their relationship worsened. However, despite reports that they had stopped talking to each other altogether, Johnny talks fondly of Joey in his book Commando. Years later, when Joey was in hospital dying of lymphoma, Johnny refused to telephone him. Johnny later discussed this incident in the film , saying an attempt at such a reunion would have been futile. He did add that he was very depressed after Joey's death. When pressed, he acknowledged that this was because of the bond forged by the band. In their road manager Monte Melnick's book about his time with the Ramones, Johnny is quoted as having said, "I'm not doing anything without him. I felt that was it. He was my partner. Me and him. I miss that."
Johnny was Catholic. Though he considered himself religious, he did not attend church due to physical abuse he suffered at the hands of nuns as a youth.
Johnny also was an avid collector of baseball cards and movie posters.
In 2006, the remake of the horror film The Wicker Man was dedicated to Johnny Ramone's memory, as he was a close friend of the film's producer and star, Nicolas Cage. The lyrics for Pearl Jam's 2006 single "Life Wasted" were written by Eddie Vedder in honor of Johnny Ramone while driving home from his funeral.Hiatt, Brian. "The Second Coming of Pearl Jam". Rolling Stone. June 29, 2006. Pearl Jam also made their first video in eight years for this song. The song "Come Back" from Pearl Jam is also related to the death of Johnny Ramone.
Rolling Stone ranked Johnny Ramone 16th on its 2009 list of the Greatest Guitarists of All Time. That year, Time magazine included him on its list of the "10 Best Electric Guitarists of All Time".
An annual Johnny Ramone memorial is held every year in Hollywood Forever Cemetery. The Annual Johnny Ramone Tribute is presented by Linda Ramone and is held as a benefit for the Johnny Ramone cancer research fund which is led by David Agus at the USC Westside prostate cancer research center. The events have been attended by celebrities such as Vincent Gallo, Lisa Marie Presley, Priscilla Presley, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Chris Cornell, Eddie Vedder, Billie Joe Armstrong, Duff McKagan, Rob Zombie, Kirk Hammett, Steve Jones, and Traci Lords. Additional celebrities who have taken part in the events include John Waters, Rose McGowan, Henry Rollins and Johnny Depp.
Lisa Marie Presley recorded a cover of the Ramones' song "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow" on her 2005 album Now What. She printed in the liner notes of the CD:
On September 15, 2022, John Frusciante performed a cover of the Ramones' song "I Remember You" during the Red Hot Chili Peppers show in Orlando to honor Johnny on the 18th anniversary of his death.
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