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Joey Ramone

Famed just as much for his leather jacket, ripped jeans, giant sunglasses and mop of dark grungy hair as his youthful bleat, Joey Ramone became the archetypal street punk as the frontman of rock and roll revolutionaries The Ramones. Widely acknowledged as the Godfather of the genre, Ramone initially began his career as a drummer before replacing Ramones bandmate Dee Dee on vocals in a move which would eventually help propel the group from the underground clubs of New York to the periphery of the mainstream. Although the group never reached any higher than No. 44 on the Billboard charts, their raucous energy, infectious three-chord songs and rapid-fire live performances unarguably defined the punk movement. Making the most of his limited vocal range, Ramone was an integral part of their cult success, his effortlessly cool and melodic croon providing a welcome alternative to the more abrasive snarls favoured by the countless punk rockers who followed in his wake. Alongside guitarist Johnny, Joey was the only Ramone to last the entire course of the band's 22-year-run, and later achieved critical acclaim as a solo artist with two posthumous records released after his untimely death in 2001.