Tommy Ramone, the drummer for The Ramones and the last surviving original member of the influential punk band, has died. He was 65 years old.
Ramone, whose real last name was Erdelyi, died early Sunday, a post on the band’s Facebook page confirmed.
Erdelyi was born in Budapest, Hungary in January 1949 and was the band’s drummer from 1974 to 1978. According to The Los Angeles Times, he also helped produce their first three albums.
The Ramones weren’t the most commercially successful band while they were recording, but are now hailed as one of the most influential acts of their time, earning a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. They tried to take Rock back to its roots, while crafting their own unique sound. Their name came from an old pseudonym Paul McCartney used in the early Beatles days.
Today, some of their best known tracks include “Blitzkrieg Bop,” “Beat on The Brat,” “Sheena Is a Punk Rocker” and “I Wanna Be Sedated.”
As the inventors of punk rock, they are also forever linked to the legendary CBGB club in Manhattan, where so many other New York acts from that era cut their teeth. Their 1976 debut is considered their best album.
According to The BBC, the group officially disbanded in 1996. Erdelyi was the last surviving original member of the group. Frontman Joey Ramone, guitarist Johnny Ramone and bassist Dee Dee Ramone have also passed away.
“It wasn't just music in The Ramones: it was an idea,” Erdelyi said in a 1978 quote posted on the band’s Facebook page. “It was bringing back a whole feel that was missing in rock music – it was a whole push outwards to say something new and different. Originally it was just an artistic type of thing; finally I felt it was something that was good enough for everybody.”
image via Facebook from Ramones
image courtesy of Trevor Kent/INFGoff.com