Dee Dee Ramone(1951-2002)

Dee Dee Ramone(1951 - 2002) was born as Douglas Glenn Colvin on September 18, 1951 in Fort Lee, Virginia, USA. He was a German-American musician, best known as a founding member, songwriter and bassist for the influential punk rock band "Ramones". His father was a U.S. Master Sergeant (born 1911) and his mother a woman (born 1931) from Berlin, Germany. After his birth the family relocated to Germany, due to his father's military service, and Dee Dee Ramone grew up in Munich, Bad Tölz, Pirmasens and Berlin. He spoke fluent German and remained in Berlin, Germany until 1968. When Dee Dee Ramone was 15 years old his parents divorced and his mother moved with her son to Forest Hills, Queens, New York City. At the 'Forest Hills High School' and in his neighborhood Dee Dee Ramone became friends with the original band members of the "Ramones": Jeffrey Hyman (aka Joey Ramone), John Cummings (aka Johnny Ramone) and Tamás Erdélyi (aka Tommy Ramone). The "Ramones" were a four-piece rock band that many experts credit for giving birth to the punk movement and having a major influence on music history and popular culture. Playing simple rock songs as hard and fast as possible, the "Ramones" gained a cult following that centered at the New York club CBGB's. After 14 studio albums and nearly constant touring for 22 years "The Ramones" gained a loyal worldwide following, while never achieving spectacular mainstream success like other bands they originally inspired. Dee Dee Ramone and Joey Ramone were the most important and productive songwriters/lyricists of the "Ramones". Dee Dee Ramone remained a band member until 1989, when he left and was replaced by Christopher Ward (aka C.J. Ramone). Dee Dee became a rapper and performed under the moniker 'Dee Dee King', and later formed the band "Chinese Dragons". But a strong connection to his first band always remained: He still occasionally played with the "Ramones" and wrote more songs for them and even appeared on their farewell concert video "We're Outta Here". Dee Dee Ramone was also a painter and is a published author of two books: An autobiography called "Lobotomy - Surviving the Ramones" (2000) and a novel called "Chelsea Horror Hotel" (2001) about the infamous hotel in New York. He released further a solo album in 2001, called "Latest & Greatest". Along with the other (surviving) "Ramones" members, he was inducted into the 'Rock & Roll Hall of Fame' in 2002. Less than two months after his induction, he was found dead in his house by his wife. Dee Dee Ramone was 50 years old. His paintings have been exhibited since posthumously in 2003/2006 in Augsburg (Germany), 2005 in Paris (France) and 2010 in Los Angeles(USA). In September 2005 a museum dedicated to the "Ramones" opened in Berlin, Germany.