Weeks after a Sweet Relief fund was launched for his care, David Johansen (The New York Dolls, Buster Poindexter, solo music) has died. He was 75 years old. We had learned of his decade-long fight against stage-four cancer, and later a brain tumor, only recently, as David wanted to keep his battle private. He also had additional medical issues after falling and breaking his back in two places after Thanksgiving 2024. A music legend traversing six decades and many genres, as a member of the New York Dolls, David rose to fame on his inspirational first two albums led the early punk movement, and inspired punks, but also KISS, Aerosmith, Guns N Roses, The Runaways, Nirvana, The Damned, The Misfits, Social Distortion, The Sex Pistols, The Clash, Green Day, Rancid, NOFX and countless more artists. The Dolls would reunite for three more albums in the last fifteen years. David also acted in movies such as Scrooged, and Freejack, before moving into pop and Jazz music later in his career. We highly recommend the Martin Scorsese documentary Personality Crisis: One Night Only from 2023. RIP.
