About Marky Ramone
Marc Steven Bell is an American drummer. He began playing in hard rock bands in the New York City area, notably Dust and Estus. He was asked to drum for punk rock band Richard Hell and the Voidoids. He replaced drummer Tommy Ramone in the Ramones in 1978, and went by the stage name Marky Ramone from then on. He has also played drums for other punk rock and heavy metal bands, including his own band Marky Ramone and the Intruders. He continues to keep the Ramones legacy alive around the world with his band Marky Ramone's Blitzkrieg.
Ramone lives in Brooklyn Heights with his wife, Marion Flynn. In 2015, he released his autobiography Punk Rock Blitzkrieg: My Life as a Ramone.
According to his autobiography, he and his twin brother Fred were born at New York Infirmary for Indigent Women and Children on July 15, 1952, and is of Dutch ancestry on his father's side and French and German on his mother's side.
Bell began playing drums in 1971 with the hard rock band Dust, featuring Kenny Aaronson on bass and Richie Wise on guitar, and produced by Kenny Kerner. Bell recorded two albums with the band, before getting into the punk scene. In late 1972, following the death of the New York Dolls' original drummer Billy Murcia, Bell was the only seriously considered alternative to the eventually chosen Jerry Nolan. "Jerry and I knew each other," he said. "When Billy died, I went down to the loft where the Dolls were auditioning… I could do different time signatures, different accents, and I basically overplayed it – put in all these drum fills that weren't necessary. And Jerry just kept the beat straight. So Jerry got it and I didn't."
In 1973, Marky joined Estus and recorded an album of the same name, produced by the Rolling Stones' first producer, Andrew Loog Oldham. Bandmates for Estus included Harry Rumpf and Tom and John Nicholas. In the mid-1970s, Bell joined Wayne County & The Backstreet Boys, then move onto Richard Hell and the Voidoids and played on their first album, Blank Generation. In May 1978, Tommy Ramone asked Bell to join the Ramones; he accepted and was renamed Marky Ramone.
Marky was with the Ramones for the next five years. He starred in the movie Rock 'n' Roll High School, recorded the anthem, "I Wanna be Sedated", and worked with producer Phil Spector. After five albums with Dee Dee, Joey, and Johnny Ramone, Marky was asked to leave the band in February 1983 because of a drinking problem. He was replaced by Richie Ramone who was himself replaced four years later by Clem Burke of Blondie , who was asked to leave after only two shows. Marky returned clean and sober in August 1987, and in total, he played 1,700 shows and recorded ten studio albums with the band until their retirement in August 1996.
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