Johnny Ramone is dying. He has been fighting prostate cancer, which has now gone nuclear and metastasized throughout his system.
"Johnny's been a champ in confronting this, but at this point I think the chances are slim," Marky Ramone said in the report. "John never smoked cigarettes, he wasn't a heavy drinker and he was always into his health. It just proves when cancer seeks a body to penetrate, it doesn't matter how healthy you are or how unhealthy you are. It just seeps in and there's nothing you can do."
The greats are dropping like flies these days. It's inevitable; death will get us all, but one of the facts of life is that some things never get easier. The Flaming Lips, one of my favorite bands, have a line in their song "Fight Test" that for me sums up everything you need to know about growing up: "I'm a man, not a boy/ But there's things you can't avoid/ You have to face them/ When you're not prepared to face them." Even if it's a rock star you never met, some things never get easier.
Here would be the time when I typically launch into an extended rapturous encomium for Johnny (before the fight has even gone out of the guy, I'm such a ghoul), but since I've been doing that too much of late so's that people might think I have a thing for rock star deaths or something, I'm going to shut the hell up for a change. We all know who Johnny Ramone is, what he did, and why he's great. Right?
(Reprinted from The Ministry of Minor Perfidy.)
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Article comments
1 - Eric Olsen
Thanks Johno, very sad. One wonders why the Ramones have been so stricken - well, there isn't much to wonder about Dee Dee, who took the junkie's way out - but both Joey and Johnny, who didn't freaking speak to each other for 20 years over a girl, both dying of cancer at about the same age? Very creepy - makes you wonder about asbestos in their practice space or something, seriously.
2 - Jim Carruthers
I guess if The Ramones music makes white lab mice explode, you can only imagine what what the long-term effects are to the people who actually play it.
3 - Vern Halen
This is terrible, tragic news - almost worse than hearing it after the fact.
I once read an article about white elephant art vs. termite art (maybe someone out there can identify the author). Basically, it defined white elephant art as a large, useless monolith that couldn't be moved - i.e., Celine Dion, N*SYNC, Britney. It then identified termite art as that which ate away at the inside, forcing us to rethink our preconceived notions of the nature of art. If that's the case, Johnny was one of the premier termites.
He wasn't a technically proficient professional; he was an inspired amateur, and he inspired scores of other amateurs to pursue their own dreams. That in itself should be the highest praise for a rock 'n' roller.
"When your time's come we'll take your jacket here/Hang up your leather & your second skin."
Thanks, Johnny.
4 - Bob A. Booey
Jesus.
This sucks. Johnny really was the uncredited genius in that band -- he virtually invented punk guitar and was arguably the most important song-writer in the band as well. Joey usually got most of the credit because he was upfront and engaging and the big circus freak where Johnny was the quiet guy with the mook haircut in the background. He's supposed to be a pretty down-to-earth guy too who avoided all the squabbles with Joey and DeeDee and Marky and the rest.
You feel bad that it's prostate cancer since it's such an easily curable, rather common disease if caught early.
For all you old guys, get your poopers checked. It'll give you an excuse to indulge your homoeroticism.
5 - Douglas Mays
The good thing about his healthier approach to living is that his body has the ability to fight back a bit harder than if he lead an unhealthy lifestyle.
Prayers, strength and best for Johnny.
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