Background

Marc Steven Bell was born on July 15, 1952 in Brooklyn, New York.

Career

Bell began playing drums in 1971 with the hard rock band Dust, featuring Kenny Aaronson on bass and Richie Wise on guitar, and produced by Kenny Kerner. Bell recorded two albums with the band, before getting into the punk scene. In late 1972, following the death of the New York Dolls' original drummer Billy Murcia, Bell was the only seriously considered alternative to the eventually chosen Jerry Nolan. "Jerry and I knew each other," he said. "When Billy died, I went down to the loft where the Dolls were auditioning… I could do different time signatures, different accents, and I basically overplayed it – put in all these drum fills that weren't necessary. And Jerry just kept the beat straight. So Jerry got it and I didn't."

In 1973, Marky joined Estus and recorded an album of the same name, produced by The Rolling Stones' first producer, Andrew Loog Oldham. Bandmates for Estus included Harry Rumpf and Tom and John Nicholas. In the mid-1970s, Bell joined Richard Hell and the Voidoids and played on their first album, Blank Generation. In May 1978, Tommy Ramone asked Bell to join the Ramones; he accepted and was renamed Marky Ramone.

Marky was with the Ramones for the next five years. He starred in the movie Rock 'n' Roll High School, recorded the anthem, "I Wanna be Sedated", and worked with legendary producer Phil Spector. After five albums with Dee Dee, Joey, and Johnny Ramone, Marky was asked to leave the band in February 1983 because of a drinking problem. He replaced Clem Burke of Blondie,who was asked to leave only after two shows.He returned clean and sober in August 1987, and played 1700 shows and recorded 10 studio albums with the band until their retirement in August 1996.

In 1996, Marky joined Dee Dee Ramone to form the Ramainz, performing Ramones songs.

In 2000, Marky joined Joey to record Joey's solo album, entitled Don't Worry About Me. Joey told talk show host Joe Franklin that Marky was his favorite drummer along with Keith Moon.

In 1997 and 1999 Marky recorded two albums with his solo band Marky Ramone & the Intruders. In 2001, he was presented with a lifetime achievement award from MTV by U2 singer Bono. In September 2004, Ramone served as Executive Producer and released a Ramones DVD entitled Ramones: Raw on Image Entertainment, which featured footage of the band while on tour all over the world along with other various rare, vintage footage. Much of the candid footage is courtesy of Marky Ramone's personal video library. Ramones: Raw is the only certified Gold selling Ramones DVD and one of only two US gold selling releases in the Ramone entire catalog, the other being the greatest hits double LP Ramones Mania, released in 1988. Ramones: Raw is also the highest charting release in Ramones history.

On April 22, 2008, Marky Ramone appeared on a new CD in Canada playing drums with the Canadian punk band called Teenage Head. The CD is called Teenage Head with Marky Ramone and it was released in the USA on June 10, 2008.

Since 2005, he has hosted the show Punk Rock Blitzkrieg on Sirius XM. The show was originally aired on Faction (formerly Channel 41), but has since been moved to 1st Wave (Channel 33) following the launch of Turbo on Channel 41 and the relocation of Faction to Channel 314 as an Xtra Channel. The show has been renamed to Marky Ramone's 1st Wave Blitzkrieg. In April 2018, Marky Ramone's Punk Rock Blitzkrieg launched as a 24/7 channel (Channel 712) available online only for Sirius XM subscribers. The channel features previously aired recordings of Marky Ramone's 1st Wave Blitzkrieg.

Achievements

• Marky Ramone's tenure with the Ramones lasted 15 years. He is the only living member inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the only living member to receive the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Marky Ramone's hand prints are on the Hollywood Rock Walk.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Punk Rock Blitzkrieg: My Life as a Ramone

• movie

  • Rock N Roll High School 1979
  • Ramones - Around the World VHS 1993
  • Lemmy 2010

• music

  • Dust 1971
  • Hard Attack 1973
  • Estus Import 1973
  • Blank Generation 1977
  • Road to Ruin 1978
  • End of the Century 1980
  • Pleasant Dreams 1981
  • Subterranean Jungle 1983
  • Brain Drain 1989
  • Mondo Bizarro 1992
  • Acid Eaters 1993
  • Adios Amigos 1995

Views

Quotations: “The thing about insanity is that when you’re around it long enough you become part of it.”

“I don’t give a good goddamn if somebody can barely play their instruments or even not at all, as long as they’ve got something to express and do it in a compelling way.”

"Hey, I think they liked us!"

"I was at this club with my friend, and he said 'You gotta see this band!'. And then the Ramones came out, and I basically said 'Shit! I wish I was in that band.'."

Connections

colleague:

Dee Ramone

Douglas Glenn Colvin, known professionally as Dee Dee Ramone, was a German-American musician, singer and songwriter best known as founding member, songwriter, bassist and occasional lead vocalist for the punk rock band the Ramones.

colleague:

Johnny Ramone

John William Cummings, known professionally as Johnny Ramone, was an American guitarist and songwriter, best known for being the guitarist for the punk rock band the Ramones.

References

• Damone Ramone: A Rock and Roll Betrayal
• Ramones at 40
• Why the Ramones Matter
• Lobotomy: Surviving the Ramones