Denver, Colorado
USA
May 9, 1983
Back stage with the Ramones singer: Joey Ramone (sitting) and drummer (standing) Tommy Ramone.
The Ramones were an American rock band that formed in Forest Hills, Queens, New York in 1974, often cited as the first punk rock group. Despite achieving only limited commercial success, the band was a major influence on the punk rock movement both in the United States and the United Kingdom.
All of the band members adopted pseudonyms ending with the surname "Ramone", though none of them were actually related. They performed 2,263 concerts, touring virtually nonstop for 22 years. In 1996, after a tour with the Lollapalooza music festival, the band played a farewell show and disbanded.
By a little more than eight years after the breakup, the band's three founding members--lead singer Joey Ramone, guitarist Johnny Ramone, and bassist Dee Dee Ramone--had all died.