Rock Music Legend David Johansen Dead at 75

Rock legend David Johansen has died. The New York Dolls frontman passed away at 75, his stepdaughter, Leah Hennessey, confirmed via Far Out Magazine. “David Johansen died at home in NYC on Friday afternoon holding hands with his wife Mara Hennessey and daughter Leah, surrounded by music, flowers, and love,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “He was 75 years old and died of natural causes after nearly a decade of illness.”

The singer-songwriter announced in 2020 that he had been diagnosed with a brain tour. In February, Hennessey revealed that her stepfather had been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and was involved in “intensive treatment” for “most of the past decade.” She shared that things took a turn for the worse, and partnered with the Sweet Relief Musician’s Fund, which provides financial assistant to artists and people in the music industry going through health struggles.

“Five years ago, at the beginning of the pandemic, we discovered that David’s cancer had progressed and he had a brain tumor. There have been complications ever since,” Hennessy wrote. “He’s never made his diagnosis public, as he and my mother Mara are generally very private people, but we feel compelled to share this now due to the increasingly severe financial burden our family is facing.”

She went on to explain that after Thanksgiving, Johansen fell down the stairs and broke his back in two places. After a week in the hospital and a successful surgery, the punk frontman was bedridden and incapacitated, with his illness progressing “exponentially,” needing full-time nursing, physical therapy, and day-to-day vital living expenses.

Johansen was a member of punk rock group New York Dolls, which lasted from 1971 to 1976, and reunited from 2004 to 2011 before disbanding again. They released five studio albums, with 2006’s One Day It Will Please Us to Remember Even This charting at No. 8 on the U.S. independent albums chart. Johansen also released four solo studio albums and two live albums. His last solo EP, Sweet Revenge, released in 1984.

Along with New York Dolls, David Johansen was also part of The Harry Smiths, with frontman  Morrissey confirming his death on his website. Johansen wasn’t too open about his health and personal life, mostly staying out of the public eye and living quietly with his wife of 11 years, Mara Hennessey.