Tommy Ramone

Birth Name:

Tamás Erdélyi

Birth Date:

January 29, 1949

Birth Place:

Budapest, Hungary

Death Date:

July 11, 2014

Place of Death:

18-93 Willoughby Avenue, Ridgewood, Queens, New York

Age:

Cause of Death:

Bile Duct Cancer

Cemetery Name:

New Montefiore Cemetery

Claim to Fame:

Music

Associates:

Tommy Ramone is fondly remembered as the co-founder, songwriter and drummer for the influential punk rock band the Ramones from its debut in 1974 to 1978, later serving as its producer, and was the longest-surviving original member of the Ramones. Tommy played on and co-produced the band's first three studio albums, Ramones (1976), Leave Home (1977) and Rocket to Russia (1977), and was sole producer on the 1979 live album It's Alive. These were the discs that created the imperishable Ramones sound, with their frantic pace and skillful deployment of the band's simple guitar-bass-drums format in tracks that sometimes lasted barely a minute and a half. Though the Ramones were celebrated as the quintessential New York punk band, as Tommy once explained: "First of all, it wasn't four morons; second of all, none of it was an accident; and third of all, it's four talented people who know what they like and who know what they're doing."

Fun Facts

Why did Tommy leave The Ramones after just 3 albums? Behind the scenes, none of them got along very well. Johnny and Joey fell out in the early ’80s when Johnny began dating (and later married) Joey’s ex-girlfriend. Dee Dee frequently struggled with drug abuse and bipolar disorder. They all treated each other poorly. Tommy quit in 1978 when he realized that he couldn’t survive the road with the Ramones. Before leaving in 1978, ostensibly because he was exhausted by the constant touring, Tommy later admitted that he had quit in reaction to being “physically threatened by Johnny, treated with contempt by Dee Dee, and all but ignored by Joey.”

Arturo Vega (born in Sierra, Chihuahua, Mexico, October 13, 1948) was the Ramones creative director since 1974, he designed the Ramones’ eagle logo and most all of the Ramones art, shirts, special collections, etc. He worked as the Ramones lighting director. With the Ramones he worked on 2261 shows, and only missed 2 Ramones shows altogether. Arturo has said: “I just couldn’t make it to the (two) shows – and I have the police records to prove it.”, said Arturo.

Cemetery Information:

Final Resting Place:

New Montefiore Cemetery

1180 Wellwood Avenue

West Babylon, New York, 11704

USA

North America

Map:

Map of New Montefiore Cemetery in West Babylon, New York

Grave Location:

Section 5, Block 14, Row 31, Grave 14, Society: Roosevelt Park

Grave Location Description

As you enter the cemetery, drive to the road closest to the Southern State Parkway. Turn left on 4th Avenue South and continue until you reach the very far corner of the cemetery bordering the Parkway. Now walk along the road heading away from the Parkway and count out 7 double rows of memorials. Turn right into Block 14 and walk 14 memorials for the final resting place of the founder, drummer and producer for the iconic punk band The Ramones – Tommy Ramone.