Background and career
Douglas Glenn Colvin (September 18, 1951 – June 5, 2002), better known by his stage name Dee Dee Ramone, was an American musician. He was the bassist, occasional lead vocalist and a founding member of the punk rock band the Ramones. Throughout the band's existence, he was the most prolific lyricist and composer, writing many of their best-known songs, such as "53rd & 3rd", "Chinese Rock", "Commando", "Wart Hog", "Rockaway Beach", "Poison Heart" and "Bonzo Goes to Bitburg" (also known as "My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down"). Dee Dee was the band's lead vocalist until original drummer Joey Ramone took over lead vocalist duties. He was then the band's bassist from 1974 until 1989, when he left to pursue a short-lived career in hip-hop under the name Dee Dee King, releasing his debut solo studio album Standing in the Spotlight in 1989. He soon returned to his punk roots and released four more solo albums featuring brand-new songs, many of which were later recorded by the Ramones.
He toured the world playing his new songs, Ramones songs and some old favorites in small clubs, and continued to write songs for the Ramones until 1996, when the band retired. Dee Dee was addicted to drugs, particularly heroin, for much of his life. He began using drugs as a teenager and continued to use for the majority of his adult life. He died from a heroin overdose on June 5, 2002, at the age of 50.
Early life and family Douglas Glenn Colvin was born on September 18, 1951, in Fort Lee, Virginia. He was the son of an American soldier and a German woman. As an infant, his family relocated to West Berlin, West Germany, due to his father's military service. His father's military career also required the family to relocate frequently. As a result of these frequent moves, Douglas had a lonely childhood with few real friends. His parents separated during his early teens and he remained in Berlin until the age of 15 when he, along with his mother and sister Beverley, moved to Forest Hills, Queens, New York, in order to escape Dee Dee's alcoholic father. There, he met John Cummings and Thomas Erdelyi (later dubbed Johnny and Tommy Ramone), then playing in a band called the Tangerine Puppets, named after a Donovan song. Bassist Monty Colvin from the progressive metal band Galactic Cowboys is one of Dee Dee's cousins.
Ramones Colvin, later Dee Dee, and Cummings, later Johnny, quickly became friends, as they were both social outcasts in their middle-class neighborhood. After an unsuccessful guitar audition for Television in 1973, Johnny convinced Dee Dee to form their own band with then-drummer Jeffrey Hyman, later Joey Ramone, in 1974. Dee Dee initially wanted to be the band's lead vocalist in addition to being a guitarist along with Johnny, but had to switch to bass when their friend Richie Stern, who they had hired to be the band's bassist, proved incapable of playing the instrument. Joey later took over vocal duties after Dee Dee decided that he could not sing lead vocals for longer than a few songs as his voice shredded. Dee Dee would continue, however, to count off each song's tempo with his signature rapid-fire shout of "1-2-3-4!" It was Dee Dee who first suggested naming the band the Ramones, after reading that Paul McCartney often signed into hotels under the alias "Paul Ramon".
How Dee Dee Ramone makes money
He soon returned to his punk roots and released four more solo albums featuring brand-new songs, many of which were later recorded by the Ramones. Dee Dee would continue, however, to count off each song's tempo with his signature rapid-fire shout of "1-2-3-4!" It was Dee Dee who first suggested naming the band the Ramones, after reading that Paul McCartney often signed into hotels under the alias "Paul Ramon".
