Bass player Dee Dee Ramone (Douglas Glenn Colvin) died on June 5th of a drug overdose shortly after the induction ceremony and guitarist Johnny Ramone (John Cummings) died of prostate cancer in 2004. Drummer Tommy Ramone is the only surviving original member.
Their induction marked a belated recognition of the Ramones impact on two generations of musicians, including late Clash frontman Joe Strummer who described the Ramones as "the daddy punk group of all time".
The Ramones formed in Queens, New York, in 1974 with all the members adopting the Ramone surname and iconic uniform of torn blue jeans and black leather jackets. A group of local 'losers' (according to Joey) with limited musical ability, they built their reputation at New York venue CBGBs, playing three-chord thrash-pop songs all under 3 minutes long, alongside contemporaries acts such as Blondie.
"They were the original punk rock band," according to CBGB's owner Hilly Kristal in Rolling Stone magazine. "Their longevity supercedes anybody who sold more records, and the consistency and meaning of their name is greater than anybody in the punk rock field."
The band's eponymous debut album, released in 1976, quickly defined their style - a mix of two-minute, three-chord songs. "They rescued rock and roll from pretentiousness and unnecessary adornments," according to Ramones artistic director Arturo Vega.
Despite their massive cult status, the band were never commercially successful at home - a constant source of bitterness amongst the members throughout their career. They never broke the US Top 40, despite having four Top 40 hits in the UK.
In 1980, in an attempt to confound their lack of commercial success, the Ramones recorded 'End Of The Century' with legendary gun-toting producer Phil Spector. The album became their best selling record, reaching number 44 in the US Charts, but Spector's methods were a cause of divisions within the band.
Dee Dee, a key Ramones songwriter, left the band in 1989 to pursue a misguided and ill-fated career as a rap MC. He eventually formed new band Chinese Dragons.
The Ramones finally disbanded in 1996 after releasing their last studio album, Adios Amigos, and playing a farewell concert at the Palace club in Hollywood.
Despite their failure to achieve commercial success in their own right, the Ramones' were hugely influential on a generation of musicians from 1970s UK bands The Clash and the Sex Pistols to current US punk giants Green Day.
Their best-known songs include 'Blitzkrieg Bop', 'I Wanna Be Sedated', 'Teenage Lobotomy', 'KKK Took My Baby Away' and 'Sheena Is A Punk Rocker'.
Discography:
Ramones (1976)
Leave Home (1977)
Rocket To Russia (1977)
Road To Ruin (1978)
It's Alive (1979)
Rock And Roll High School (1979)
End Of The Century (1980)
Pleasant Dreams (1981)
Subterranean Jungle (1983)
Too Tough To Die (1984)
Animal Boy (1986)
Halfway To Sanity (1987)
Ramones Mania (1988)
Brain Drain (1989)
All The Stuff And More vol 1 (1990)
All The Stuff And More vol 2 (1991)
Loco Live (1991)
Mondo Bizzaro (1992)
Acid Eaters (1993)
Adios Amigos (1995)
Greatest Hits Live (1996)
We're Outta Here (1997)
Ramones Anthology - Hey Ho Let's Go! (1999)
DVD:
End Of The Century - The Story Of The Ramones
source : http://www.bbc.co.uk
