On my way back from Long Beach today, I got a tad bit lost and ended up outside the Hollywood Forever Cemetery on Santa Monica Blvd. I decided to pop in and do a little treasure hunt for famous graves (to see who I could find). At one point, as I wandered through spongy grass looking for what I thought was Marilyn Monroe’s grave (different cemetery), I hit the jackpot and found Johnny Ramone (above).
Johnny Ramone (John William Cummings) is one of the founding members of the band punk band The Ramones. The band basically lived up to their own famous Bop ‘Til You Drop lyrics and toured non-stop for 20+ years. When they stopped touring all three founding members died. Johnny died of prostate cancer in 2004 and he was the third member of the band to die.
Below is the grave for Dee Dee Ramone (Douglas Colvin) the second Ramone to pass away. Dee Dee died in 2002 of a heroin overdose; Joey was the first to die in 2001 (cancer). You may notice the beer cans/bottles sitting around Dee Dee’s grave. It’s common for people to come to the cemetery to share a drink with Dee Dee.
I have many many fond memories of Michi and I speeding around in the cabriolet with the top off listening to “I Wanna be Sedated,” “Blitzkreig Bop,” “Rock ‘n’ Roll High School,” and “Go Lil’ Camaro.” She LOVED the Ramones. So, when I discovered the view below, I had a really good giggle:
(P.S. the M is for Margaret.)
Behind Dee Dee is another musician: Bianca Halstead (Bianca Butthole) who is one of the founding members of the band Betty Blowtorch (of the documentary film, Betty Blowtorch and Her Amazing True Life Adventures). She was killed by a drunk driver in New Orleans (2001).
She would of loved this, especially the M Gray stone! Thanks for sharing.