Heaven needed a lead singer: fans remember Joey Ramone

On April 15, 2001, a legendary singer who fronted a legendary band passed away after a lengthy battle with cancer. The singer was our beloved Joey Ramone and his band was the Ramones. Together they changed the course of musical history forever. Whether it is Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys), Lemmy Kilme [...]
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On April 15, 2001, a legendary singer who fronted a legendary band passed away after a lengthy battle with cancer. The singer was our beloved Joey Ramone and his band was the Ramones. Together they changed the course of musical history forever. Whether it is Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys), Lemmy Kilmeister (Motörhead), Bono (U2), Green Day, Offspring, Beastie Boys, or countless other bands, all of these artists have one thing in common; their inspiration can be directly correlated to the Ramones.

Heaven Needed A Lead Singer: Fans Remember Joey Ramone is a book in which people from all over the world write about what Joey Ramone meant to them. A big part of the profits from the book will be donated to cancer research (without animals); the biggest chunk of money will be donated to the Juliana Von Wendt Fund.

More than 70 famous artists contributed their Joey Ramone memories and stories for this book including: Hellacopters, Backyard Babies, Sator, Adverts, Dead Kennedys, Die Toten Hosen, Dead Boys, Jeff Dahl, U2, Dogs d'Amour, Wildhearts, Teenage Head, Electric Frankenstein, Hanoi Rocks and Flaming Sideburns.

Die Toten Hosen's Campino wrote for "Heaven Needed A Lead Singer: Fans Remember Joey Ramone" the following:
"Their continuity in music and styling was outrageous. "Sheena Is A Punkrocker" is one of my lifetime favorite songs, and Joey's voice was by far the most outstanding and unique. Visiting him in New York, recording a version of "Blitzkrieg Bop" for our Learning English album on another occasion, attending a gig of his brother's with him, or just hanging out together at St. Mark's Place are memories I will never forget. The most incredible night I ever shared with Joey and The Ramones happened in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We were supporting their "Good-bye to South-America" show in 1996 and the whole River Plate Stadium was filled with 50 000 kids of the "Ramones army", all dressed in black. I swear to God, there was not one of them who wasn't wearing a Ramones t-shirt."

Michael Monroe, singer of Hanoi Rocks wrote: "It's genius how Ramones worked all those years and kept their own sound. Joey was the closest to me out of all of them. Joey is one of the biggest legends of all legends. New York is not the same place anymore, after Johnny Thunders and Stiv Bator died, and especially now that Joey is gone, there is nothing left."

" A most informative book of The Ramones I have seen, extremely rare photos and commentary's from one of the most avid and loyal Ramones followers... Years in the making this is for sure one of the books to have" writes Marky Ramone in the book's opening text that was penned by the drummer in April 2002. Marky also provides a couple of very informative interviews that can only be found in this book.

This book has already received many praises by such artists as Die Toten Hosen and Hellacopters as well as by Joey's brother Mickey and his mother Charlotte.

Heaven Needed A Lead Singer: Fans Remember Joey Ramone features many special unreleased Ramones and Ramones related photos and drawings, as well as hundreds of stories and memory texts about Joey and Ramones by fans from all corners of the world. Jari-Pekka Laitio-Ramone has been running the biggest Ramones homepage and the most popular on the web since 1995 (http://ramones.kauhajoki.fi). Book also includes his interesting Ramoniac stories and tour memories from his various tours with Ramones members.

Page size: B5, 192 pages, 16 color pages.