Joey Ramone

Joey Ramone was an American singer-songwriter and the lead vocalist of punk-rock band the Ramones — one of the foundational figures of the 1970s American punk-rock movement. He was born Jeffry Ross Hyman on May 19, 1951, in Forest Hills, Queens, New York City, into an Jewish-American family. He had a difficult childhood shaped by his obsessive-compulsive disorder (which was diagnosed in his late teens) and his short-lived 1969 admission to the Forest Hills Catholic High School (he was eventually expelled).

His 1974 founding of the Ramones in Forest Hills, Queens with guitarist Johnny Ramone (John Cummings), bassist Dee Dee Ramone (Douglas Colvin), and drummer Tommy Ramone (Tom Erdelyi) launched one of the American punk-rock acts of the late 1970s. The four band members adopted the shared stage surname "Ramone" (taken from a 1960s Paul McCartney pseudonym "Paul Ramon" used during Beatles tours).

The 1976 self-titled debut album Ramones (Sire Records) — featuring the singles "Blitzkrieg Bop" (with the "Hey ho, let's go" chant) and "Beat on the Brat" — launched the American punk-rock genre alongside British acts the Sex Pistols and the Clash. The Ramones lineup released 14 studio albums across 1976–1996 — including Rocket to Russia (1977), Road to Ruin (1978), and the Phil Spector-produced End of the Century (1980).

The Ramones-Joey 22-year period was shaped by Joey's continuous health struggles — including his 1995 lymphoma diagnosis and his 2001 death from lymphoma at age 49, in New York City, on April 15, 2001. The Ramones officially disbanded in 1996 — with all four original members dying within 14 years (Joey 2001, Dee Dee 2002, Johnny 2004, Tommy 2014). The 2002 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction posthumous-honored Joey along with the four original Ramones. The 1981 single "The KKK Took My Baby Away" has been continuously cited as one of the Joey Ramone signature songs.

His name Joey is the English short form of Joseph (from the Hebrew Yosef meaning "may God add"). Joey has been continuously among the most-popular American boys' names for decades.