Marc Steven Bell (born July 15, 1952) is an American drummer. He began playing in hard rock bands in the New York City area, notably Dust and Estus. He was asked to drum for punk rock band Richard Hell and the Voidoids. He replaced drummer Tommy Ramone in the Ramones in 1978, and went by the stage name Marky Ramone from then on. He has also played drums for other punk rock and heavy metal bands, including his own band Marky Ramone and the Intruders. He continues to keep the Ramones legacy alive around the world with his band Marky Ramone's Blitzkrieg.
Ramone lives in Brooklyn Heights with his wife, Marion Flynn.[1] In 2015, he released his autobiography Punk Rock Blitzkrieg: My Life as a Ramone.
Early life
According to his autobiography, he and his twin brother Fred were born at New York Infirmary for Indigent Women and Children on July 15, 1952, and is of Dutch ancestry on his father's side and of French and German ancestry on his mother's side.[2]
Music 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.[3][4] "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."[5]
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 Wayne County & The Backstreet Boys, then move onto 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 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 was replaced by Richie Ramone who was himself replaced four years later by Clem Burke of Blondie, who was asked to leave after only two shows. Marky returned clean and sober in August 1987, and played 1,700 shows and recorded ten studio albums with the band (the most records amongst the band's drummers) until their retirement in August 1996.[6]
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 and 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, 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. 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.[7] The CD was called Teenage Head with Marky Ramone and was released in the USA on June 10, 2008.
Other work
Radio
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.[8][9] 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.
In October 2001, Ramone appeared on MTV accepting his lifetime achievement award presented by Bono of U2.
Ramone appeared on Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations twice. On the 2007 Cleveland episode, he ate with Bourdain at the Michael Symon restaurant Lola and also toured the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. Bourdain said Bell approved of the Ramones exhibit. On the 2010 "No Reservations Holiday Special", the two gather around a table and discuss what they want from Santa Claus (he wanted a hard-to-get Italian sports car).
In 2017, Ramone voiced a cartoon version of himself for Cartoon Network's series Uncle Grandpa on the season 5 episode "Late Night Good Morning with Uncle Grandpa".
In 2017, Ramone appeared on the AMC show Comic Book Men where he showed a piece of art he had created: a toy robot composed of old cell-phones.
Business
In 2009, Ramone teamed up with Tommy Hilfiger's Hilfiger Denim to launch his own clothing line consisting of leather jackets, jeans and T-shirts, and his own beer line.
He has his own line of pasta sauce, "Marky Ramone's Brooklyn's Own Pasta Sauce".[11]
Books
In 2015, Ramone released his autobiography Punk Rock Blitzkrieg: My Life as a Ramone.[12]
