Guns N’ Roses returned to Abu Dhabi Tuesday night for a show at the Etihad Arena. This was their fourth visit to the United Arab Emirates since 2017, and they mixed up the setlist for the occasion and brought out some surprises. The most notable one came near the end …
Read More »Clem Burke's Beat Helped Blondie Conquer the World
Farewell to Clem Burke, one of the all-time great rock & roll drummers. The Blondie legend passed away on Sunday, only 70, from cancer. His exuberant energy was as crucial to the Blondie sound as Debbie Harry’s vocals. He combined the chaotic frenzy of his idol Keith Moon with the …
Read More »The Tao of David Johansen
Unlike the other New York Dolls — the band he didn’t quite invent but came to personify after he was recruited when geeky bassist Arthur Kane and doomed drummer Billy Murcia knocked on his door in 1971 and asked if he’d join — David Johansen grew up solidly middle class …
Read More »Farewell, David Johansen, the Ultimate New York Doll: He Was Good-Bad But Not Evil
Goodbye to David Johansen, the last jet boy standing from the New York Dolls. It wasn’t just his madman energy that helped invent punk rock — it was his warmth and soul. He got a loving send-off in the final weeks of his life, after his daughter Leah Hennessy announced …
Read More »David Johansen on the New York Dolls' Colorful History: The Lost Interview
Three years ago, in the midst of researching my book Talkin’ Greenwich Village: The Heady Rise and Slow Fall of America’s Bohemian Music Capital, I knew I had to talk to David Johansen. Not because Johansen — who died Feb. 28 at the age of 75 —was one of those …
Read More »David Johansen, New York Dolls Frontman and Punk Pioneer, Dead at 75
David Johansen, frontman for the New York Dolls and the last surviving original member of that pioneering punk band, has died at the age of 75. The death of the singer who also moonlighted as his swing music alter ego Buster Poindexter and, as an actor, appeared in films like …
Read More »Watch the New York Dolls Play 'Jet Boy' and 'Pills' at Their Final Show in 2011
When Morrissey attempted to reunite the New York Dolls in 2004 for a performance at London’s Meltdown festival, he thought his odds of success were low. “I expected David [Johansen] to laugh at me and put the phone down,” he said that year. “But he was very agreeable and it …
Read More »David Johansen Thanks Fans for Support Amid Stage 4 Cancer Battle
David Johansen thanked fans for their support in a fundraising campaign that was launched following news of the New York Dolls singer’s battle with stage 4 cancer. Earlier this week, the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund and Johansen’s daughter Leah Hennessey launched theDavid Johansen Fundto raise money for the singer’s physical …
Read More »David Johansen Has Stage 4 Cancer. He's Asking Fans for Help
For the past five years, New York Dolls frontman David Johansen has been privately battling significant health setbacks. He has been diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer and a brain tumor, and is bedridden and incapacitated following a fall in November where he broke his back in two places. He now …
Read More »11 Big Reveals From Scorsese's David Johansen Doc 'Personality Crisis'
In Personality Crisis: One Night Only, Martin Scorsese’s new documentary about the life of New York Dolls frontman David Johansen, the singer makes it clear he doesn’t want to make it easy for the filmmaker: “I think it’s best to leave an incomplete picture of yourself,” he says. Although Johansen …
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