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As It Happens

Linda Ramone, wife of late guitarist Johnny, on Ramones museum exhibit

A new museum exhibit in New York pays tribute to the Ramones and the mark they left on their city and on punk rock music. As it Happens speaks with Linda Ramone — the wife of the band's late guitarist Johnny Ramone.
CBC News ·
(Johnny and Linda Ramone Foundation)
As It Happens8:12Linda Ramone, wife of late guitarist Johnny, on Ramones museum exhibit

Hey! Ho! Let's Go: Ramones and the Birth of Punk is the name of a new exhibit at the Queens Museum in New York. It's all about the Ramones and the birth of punk music. The exhibit, which is running until the end of July, marks 40 years since the release of the legendary punk band's debut album.

"It's sad with punk because no one is really alive to carry on the legacy. That's why, for me, having the museum is exciting because kids can go see what made the Ramones tick," Linda Ramone, the wife of the band's guitarist Johnny Ramone, tells As it Happens host Carol Off. 

Linda Ramone was the wife of the late Johnny Ramone. (Hedi Slimane)

The exhibit features around 350 items including t-shirts, leather jackets, posters, ticket stubs and instruments. Ramone, who calls her late husband a "huge collector," describes one item that stands out. 

"People told me that they loved looking at Johnny's ledger book," she says. "He wrote down every show the Ramones played and the attendance and what they got paid — from the first day to the last day."

All of the Ramones grew up in the Forest Hill neighbourhood of Queens, New York. The band became regulars at the influential New York City nightclub CBGB. Ramone remembers the seventies as a "great time for music."

"The scene was amazing. I would drive in from Queens … and we would go to see bands," she says. "You would have bands like the Ramones, The Heartbreakers, Television, Blondie … Talking Heads, Patti Smith. You'd have amazing bands all playing at CBGB. Each weekend it would be amazing to go in because everybody was friendly to each other … You could go back to the dressing rooms and say hello to anybody."

Members of the rock group the Ramones are shown in this February 1982 photo. ((AP Photo/File))

Ramone was married to Johnny Ramone for two decades. Before their relationship, however, Ramone dated the band's singer Joey Ramone.

"We had a love triangle before I could even think about what that actually meant!" Ramone laughs. "We were very much in love, of course. I was probably 19 when I met Joey. What happened in between that little time was that Johnny Ramone fell in love with me. Yes, it definitely caused some complications later on."

To hear more about the exhibit and Linda Ramone's memories, take a listen to our full interview.

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