Legendary New York Dolls rocker David Johansen has died at age 75.
His stepdaughter Leah Hennessey confirmed the sad news, saying the punk icon had passed away Friday at his home on Staten Island.
The New York native revealed just last month that he was suffering from stage four cancer, a brain tumor and a broken back.
Over the past few years, Johansen had been unable to perform due to his ailments.
Johansen began singing with a local band on Staten Island, the Vagabond Missionaries, in the 1960s. A decade later he joined the New York Dolls in 1971 with their self-titled debut album released two years later.
But by 1976, the band went their separate ways and Johansen became a solo performer. The rocker went on to open for The Who during their 1982 tour before he rebranded as lounge singer Buster Poindexter. As Poindexter, Johansen performed with the “Saturday Night Live” band.
Their hit song “Hot Hot Hot” made waves in the late 80s.
Johansen also dipped his toe into the acting world.
He first portrayed the Ghost of Christmas Past in the 1988 comedy/fantasy “Scrooged” alongside Bill Murray and Carol Kane.
Johansen also starred in the comedy / action movie “Let it Ride” in 1989 and “Mr. Nanny” in 1993 with Hulk Hogan and Sherman Hemsley.
The star also was featured in the HBO drama “Oz” which also starred Christopher Meloni, Dean Winters, Harold Perrineau and J. K. Simmons.
In 2004, the New York Dolls reunited with Johansen, Sylvain Sylvain and Arthur Kane. The trio released three albums and went on a tour.
That same year, the artist reflected on his career during an interview on “Fresh Air,” telling host Terry Gross: “When we started the Dolls… we were really such a gang, and it was like us against the world, and we were really trying to evolve music into something new, and it was, you know, very kind of almost militant to us.”
“Then over the years, you know, in the history books, like the ‘Rolling Stone Complete Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll’ or something, you look in the appendix and see where your name is and see what they say about you…. and (it) would always say, ‘They were trashy. They were flashy,’” Johansen continued.
Reflecting on the negative headlines, he recalled, “‘They were drug addicts. They were drag queens.’ And that whole kind of trashy blah, blah, blah thing over the years kind of settled in my mind as, oh, yeah, that’s what it was, you know? And then by going back to it and deconstructing it, and then putting it back together again, I realized that, you know, it really is art.”
