Ramones

The Ramones were an American rock band often regarded as the first punk rock group.[1][2] Formed in Forest Hills, Queens, New York, in 1974, all of the band members adopted pseudonyms ending with "Ramone", though none of them were actually related. They performed 2,263 concerts, touring virtually nonstop for 22 years.[2] In 1996, after a tour with the Lollapalooza music festival, the band played a farewell show and disbanded. A little more than eight years after the breakup, the band's three founding members—lead singer Joey Ramone, guitarist Johnny Ramone, and bassist Dee Dee Ramone—were dead.

The Ramones were a major influence on the punk rock movement both in the United States and the United Kingdom, though they achieved only minor commercial success. Their only record with enough U.S. sales to be certified gold was the compilation album Ramones Mania.[3] Recognition of the band's importance built over the years, and they are now cited in many assessments of all-time great rock music, such as the Rolling Stone lists of the 50 Greatest Artists of All Time[4] and 25 Greatest Live Albums of All Time,[5] VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock,[6] and Mojo's 100 Greatest Albums.[7] In 2002, the Ramones were ranked the second greatest band of all time by Spin magazine, trailing only The Beatles.[8] On March 18, 2002, the Ramones—including the three founders and drummers Marky and Tommy Ramone—were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

After more than a decade and a half at Sire Records, the Ramones moved to a new label, Radioactive Records. The band's first album for Radioactive, released in 1992, was Mondo Bizarro, which reunited them with producer Ed Stasium. Acid Eaters, consisting entirely of cover songs, came out the following year. In 1993 as well, the Ramones were featured on an episode of The Simpsons titled "Rosebud", providing the music and voices for their animated versions. Booked to sing "Happy Birthday" at a party for industrialist Mr. Burns, the cartoon version of the band demonstrates its distaste for the job with various shouted invectives: "I'd just like to say this gig sucks!" (Joey), "Hey, up yours, Springfield!" (Johnny), and "Go to Hell, you old bastard!" (C.J.). On the other hand, the cartoon Marky quips, "Hey, I think they liked us!" Afterward, a confused Mr. Burns orders his assistant Smithers to "have The Rolling Stones killed."

In 1995, the Ramones came out with ¡Adios Amigos!, announcing that they planned to break up if the album was not a hit. Its sales were unremarkable, garnering it just two weeks on the lower end of the Billboard chart. The band spent the latter part of 1995 on what was promoted as a farewell tour. However, they accepted an offer to appear in the sixth Lollapalooza festival, which toured around the United States during the following summer. After the Lollapalooza tour's conclusion, the Ramones played their final show on August 6, 1996, at the Palace in Hollywood. A recording of the concert was later released on video and CD as We're Outta Here! In addition to a reappearance by Dee Dee, the show featured several guests including Motörhead's Lemmy, Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, Soundgarden's Chris Cornell, and Rancid's Tim Armstrong and Lars Frederiksen.

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