The Ramones’ bassist Dee Dee Ramone was only 50 when he died in 2002. He lived a pretty tragic life that was consumed by drugs, alcohol and rock n’ roll.
Dee Dee Ramone was a founding member, main songwriter as well as the bassist of the hugely influential punk rock group, The Ramones. Dee Dee’s struggle with substance abuse was no secret as he would publish an autobiography in the late 90’s and documented his crippling addiction.
The story of The Ramones is one of great tragedy as Dee Dee would die almost within a year of when frontman Joey Ramone passed at the age of 49 from cancer.
The Early Days of Dee Dee Ramone
Originally named Douglas Glenn Coven, Dee Dee was born in 1951 in Virginia. His father was in the military and his mother was a German citizen. Dee Dee moved around a lot as a kid and by his own admission, he would claim his own childhood was “lonely”.
Dee Dee, his mother and sister would move back to the States, finding a new home in Forest Hills, New York. It was in Forrest Hills that he met two other guys named John Cummings and Thomas Erdelyi, later dubbed Johnny and Tommy Ramone, who were playing in a band named Tangerine Puppets.
The trio decided to start their own band and added friend Jeffrey Hymann who was a drummer in another band to cement the lineup. They called themselves The Ramones. They drew inspiration from Paul McCartney who would use the alias Paul Ramon when staying at hotels.
The Ramones Is Born
Each member of the band changed their surname to Ramone as an act of solidarity. Douglas Coven became Dee Dee Ramone, John Cummings became Johnny Ramone, Thomas Erderly became Tommy Ramone and Jeffrey Hymen became Joey Ramone.
The Ramones had a revolving cast of members in different positions. Dee Dee originally was the vocalist, while Joey was a drummer. After some maneuvering, Joey became the vocalist while Dee Dee would focus on bass as he found singing and playing bass at the same time difficult. He’d still add vocals on a few Ramones tracks.
A year later in 1974, the band made their live debut and soon made a name for themselves on the New York music scene. Mixing pop with their hard rock influences including The Who, The MC5 and The Stooges, they would soon become synonymous with the New York punk rock scene using just three chords to write songs.
By 1976, the band released their self-titled debut album which included the punk rock anthem “Blitzkrieg Bop”. Dee Dee became one of the band’s most prolific lyricists and songwriters penning such tracks “Poison Heart”, “Rockaway Beach” and “53rd and 3rd”, which documented his life as a street hustler.
“Dee Dee was the eff-up whose life was a living disaster.” – Legs McNeil
Something that would hamper Dee Dee for much of his life starting in his teenage years was drug addiction, especially as the musician took a liking to heroin. In the intro to Dee Dee’s Ramones book, Lobotomy, Legs McNeil would write, “Dee Dee was the eff-up whose life was a living disaster. He was a male prostitute, a would-be mugger, a heroin user and dealer, an accomplice to armed robbery — and a genius poet who was headed for an early grave, but was sidetracked by rock ‘n’ roll.”
In the years that followed, The Ramones underwent numerous lineup changes with Dee Dee remaining intact until 1989, after playing on 11 records. It was during his time in rehab in 1987 he learned about rap music, which changed his career path following his exit from The Ramones.
“They thought I was going through a midlife crisis, that I’d be back.” – Dee Dee Ramone
“I always loved playing live with The Ramones but I had to kind of, like go my own way and stick up for myself and do what I wanted to do… They’re freaked, you know, at first they didn’t believe it. They thought I was going through a midlife crisis, that I’d be back.”
“The Ramones always attracted, like, people who were heavy into drugs and stuff and the people that come around, it was a nightmare. Somehow a couple of them would always get backstage and there it is.
Sometimes I hung in there by the skin of my teeth and I needed a break. I had to get off the road and they just kept on getting booked and booked and one commitment after the other. Finally I just had to make a decision to either do that or break my sobriety. You know, I chose to not break my sobriety.”
Following his exit from rehab, Dee Dee recorded the rap-influenced track, “Funky Man” in 1987, but the song wouldn’t show up on his solo albums. It was towards the end of his stint in the Ramones that Dee Dee would frequently show up to gigs in full rap clothing, which frustrated his bandmates.
Dee Dee Releases His First Rap Record
After leaving The Ramones in 1989, Dee Dee released his first rap record, Standing in the Spotlight. The album was a commercial disaster and was widely panned by critics with some considering it to be one of the worst albums in the recording industry.
By 1992, Dee Dee moved onto his next project, the short lived Dee Dee and the Chinese Dragons, which would be followed by the more successful Dee Dee Ramones ICLC which stood for Inter-Celestial Light Commune, which would last from 1994-1996.
The group only put out one record and toured extensively during the mid 90’s, playing 22 countries over a 10 month period. As Dee Dee Ramones ICLC headed back into the studio to record their follow up record in 1996, they were subsequently dropped by their label.
By the late 90’s, Dee Dee relocated to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting while still working on his music. He landed a central role in the 2002 low-budget release Bikini Bandits, in addition to recording a song for the movie’s soundtrack, which would feature his wife on lead vocals.
Dee Dee Dies of Heroin Overdose
In 2002, Dee Dee would make one of his final public appearances when the Ramones were inducted into the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame but sadly, several months after that appearance, Dee Dee would be found dead on June 5, 2002, by his wife Barbara in their Hollywood apartment.
The cause of death was officially ruled to be a heroin overdose. Dee Dee was scheduled to perform at the Majestic Ventura Theatre around this time, but the show would end up being a memorial tribute show to him.
Dee Dee ended up being laid to rest at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, close to his former Ramones bandmate, Johnny Ramone. His headstone reads “O.K…I gotta go now.” Without him, the Ramones likely would never have even existed and the history of punk rock may never have been the same.
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