Johnny Ramone knew better than anyone that we're all "Here Today and Gone Tomorrow."
Ramone, guitarist of the legendary punk rock band the Ramones, died in his sleep Wednesday in Los Angeles. He was all of 55.
Ramone, whose real name was John Cummings, was surrounded by his wife and friends like Eddie Vedder and Rob Zombie when he died at his Los Angeles home Sunday afternoon, his publicist said Wednesday.
Ramone had been fighting prostate cancer for years, and was hospitalized in June at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
"John never smoked cigarettes, he wasn't a heavy drinker, and he was always into his health," drummer Marky Ramone told Rolling Stone in July. "It just proves when cancer seeks a body to penetrate, it doesn't matter how healthy you are or how unhealthy you are. It just seeps in, and there's nothing you can do."
The drummer followed up on those comments in a statement released Thursday.
"I always admired his guitar playing," he said. "His legacy will live on in every band that has, is and always will be trying to duplicate the Ramones sound.
"It's a sad day for Ramones fans and a sad day for rock and roll."
Johnny Ramone was a cofounder of the seminal group, which many consider the first real punk rock band.
While virtually ignored by mainstream America in the early part of the band's career, the Ramones' hard-charging two-minute, three-chord anthems arguably changed rock music forever. The industry eventually came around to recognizing the Ramones' contribution to rock in the 1980s, and in 2002 the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Their minimalist yet furiously loud pop songs like "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker" and "Blitzkrieg Bop" have influenced countless punk and alternative bands--from the Sex Pistols to Green Day--since the Ramones formed in 1974.
Some of the band's more famous fans paid tribute to Johnny recently in Los Angeles at a 30th anniversary Ramones tribute concert staged by L.A. radio station Indie 103.1.
Members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, X and Black Flag were among the many rockers who came out on a Sunday night to play in support of Johnny--who was too sick to attend, and instead spoke to fans who attended the concert via phone.
Johnny Ramone is the third member of the band to die at a relatively young age.
Shaggy-haired singer Joey Ramone died in April 2001 at age 49 from lymphoma. Little more than a year later, bassist Dee Dee Ramone was found dead of a drug overdose at his home in Los Angeles.
Johnny, who was raised in the middle-class New York neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, attended military academy and worked in construction before picking up the guitar at age 22 and joining the Ramones.