Tommy Ramone, the last surviving original member of the Ramones,which
was one of the original New York punk bands. Tommy died Friday at his home
in the Ridgewood area of Queens, New York. He was 62 years old and passed
away after a struggle with bile duct cancer.

He was born Erdelyi Tamas in Budapest, Hungary but was known professionally
as Tom or T. Erdelyi, Tommy Ramone played on the first three Ramones albums,
“Ramones” (1976), “Leave Home” (1977) and “Rocket to Russia” (1977). He also
co-produced the two albums with Tony Bongiovi and Ed Stasium. He appeared on
and co-produced the 1979 live Ramones opus “It’s Alive.”After leaving the Ramones to
concentrate on studio work, he co-produced the band’s 1984 album “Too Tough to Die”
with Stasium.

Tommy’s outrageous, high-energy drum work was the fuel that powered the Ramone’s
high energy and manic sound that lead the way for punk rock music. Tom Erdelyi came
to America in 1957 and grew up in Forest Hills, Queens, where he played with guitarist
John Cummings – later Johnny Ramone – in Tangerine Puppets.

Joey Ramone died of lymphoma in 2001; Dee Dee succumbed to a drug overdose in 2002;
and Johnny died from prostate cancer in 2004. The Ramones were inducted into the Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.

Tommy and the rest of the Ramones will be missed and always remembered. They are all
back in that … Rock, Rock, Rock and Roll High School in the sky jamming away!