They didn't "want to be buried in a Pet Sematary" ~ and, of course, they weren't.
Dee Dee (left) and Johnny (right) snapped at H4E on July 16, 2009
Dee Dee Ramone (1951-2002) and Johnny Ramone (1948-2004), founding members of the pioneering punk band The Ramones (1974-1996) are both immortalized at opposite ends of a small lake in the Garden of Legends section at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, CA.
Dee Dee (Douglas Colvin) is actually buried there in a plot marked by a custom black marble headstone featuring the Ramones seal and lyrics from "Highest Trails Above." Johnny (John Cummings) represents with a larger than life sculpted bronze cenotaph. Wife Linda keeps his ashes at home.
Johnny and Dee Dee ~ 1977-78 European Tour ( © Monte A. Melnick )
Raised in Forest Hills, NY, each man ended up dying in Los Angeles about two years apart -- Dee Dee from an accidental drug overdose and Johnny from prostate cancer. Their respective memorials, however, were completed at around the same time.
Johnny's statue was unveiled with a star-studded public ceremony four months after his death, on January 14, 2005.
It's not publicly known exactly when Dee Dee's headstone was placed because it happened without publicity or fanfare.
Fortunately, Findagrave.com administrator A.J. Marik documented the evolution of Dee Dee's final resting place with photographs, beginning with a plastic temporary marker on the fresh grave site (6/25/2002) followed by a cement foundation (1/8/2004) and then the permanent stone on January 5, 2005, nine days prior to Johnny's event.
Scott Michaels also chronicles the process, including additional insights about the lag time, on Findadeath.com.
Kisses for Dee Dee
Who or what inspired Johnny's reported $100,000 cenotaph varies, depending on who is telling the story.
Linda told Fox News that it was a nod to the bronze statue of his favorite actor, John Wayne, located at John Wayne Airport in Orange County, CA.. Ramones artistic director Arturo Vega told the Los Angeles Times he and Johnny brainstormed about it while watching the funeral of Johnny's favorite president and actor, Ronald Regan. Rob Zombie told the unveiling audience that the 50,000 pound sculpture was the result of suggestion he made to Johnny, in jest, about making a gigantic replica of a smaller version that he owned.
Put it all together and we end up with a very memorable 8 ft. tall memorial, created by FX artist Wayne Toth.
Johnny Bronze-oh!
Ramones lead singer Joey Ramone (Jeff Hyman) passed away in 2001 from lymphatic cancer and is buried next to his dad, Noel, at Hillside Cemetery in Lyndhurst, NJ. The band's video for the title song to the 1989 Stephen King horror film Pet Sematary is now the only place you'll see Joey, Johnny and Dee Dee (with surviving drummer Marky Ramone) together in the same graveyard.
Video courtesy of thays1990:
Dee Dee gets the last word. Hey! Ho! Let's Go!
