Marky Ramone

Marc Bell (better known as Marky Ramone, born July 15 1956, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American drummer. He is perhaps most known for being the drummer for the highly influential punk rock group Ramones. Marc Bell started playing drums when he was 16, for hard rock band Dust. He recorded two albums with the band, before getting into the punk scene in the early 1970s, He played drums with Jayne County, BackstreetBoys (Not to be confused with the Backstreet Boys) and The Voidoids. After two years with the latter, Bell left in pursue of a new band. About that time, Tommy Ramone decided to quit the Ramones in 1978 to concentrate on managing and producing the band. After being asked by Johnny Ramone and Dee Dee Ramone to join, he accepted, and received the name of Marky Ramone. Marky played drums with the Ramones for 15 years. He left the band in 1983 to get rid of his addiction to alcohol (or "to fight his demons" as he put it in his own words) and was replaced by Richie Ramone. He returned in 1987 and played with the band up until their retirement in 1996[1]. Since playing with the Ramones Marky has produced two albums as Marky Ramone and the Intruders in the 1990s, both re-issued on the Start Of The Century double CD/LP, released 2006. In 1996, Marky joined Dee Dee Ramone and his wife to play with The Ramainz, a tribute band to the Ramones. In 2000, Marky joined Joey Ramone, lead vocalist of the Ramones, to record Joey's only solo album, entitled Don't Worry About Me. That year he also joined the touring incarnation of horror punk progenitors The Misfits, with Jerry Only of the original Misfits and Dez Cadena of Black Flag. He toured extensively with the band on its 25th anniversary tour, and recorded one album with them, Project 1950, released 2003. He left the band in 2005. On Monday, March 2002, Marky was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, at New York's Waldorf Astoria as a member of the Ramones. He recorded some albums with his solo band Marky Ramone & the Speedkings, as well as many 7" releases. Marky Ramone & the Speedkings toured the world from 2002 to 2003. In September 2004, Marky released a Ramones DVD entitled Ramones: Raw, which featured footage of the band while they went on tour all over the world.

The footage is courtesy of Marky Ramone and his video library. The DVD was finished just in time to include commentary from Johnny Ramone, who died from prostate cancer on September 15, 2004. The commentary also includes Marky Ramone and producer John Cafiero. Most recently, Marky toured around the world for a 'spoken word' tour, where he would speak about his time with the Ramones, along with photos. He now tours with his band, Marky Ramone and Friends, and plays for punk rock supergroup Osaka Popstar. He also hosts the Marky Ramone Punk Rock Blitzkrieg radio show on Sirius Satellite Radio. In 2006, Joe Queer stated he has a project in the works with Ben Weasel, Marky Ramone and B-Face.
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