Ramones Tribute Hits The Road

The corner of 2nd Street and the Bowery will be re-tilted ‘Joey Ramone Place’ during a special ceremony in November designed to pay trbute to the influential rocker and his band.

It's no coincidence that the adjacent street houses the no less legendary clubs CBGBs, the venue that served as the birthplace of the US punk and New Wave movement, providing a stage for bands such as Blondie, Talking Heads, Television and Patti Smith.

"As far as the city recognizing Joey, it's about time," CBGB's owner Hilly Kristal said to Rolling Stone, "The Ramones meant a lot to this city and to music. They were the original punk rock band. Their longevity supersedes anybody who sold more records, and the consistency and meaning of their name is greater than anybody in the punk rock field."

CBGBs (named originally as ‘Country Bluegrass Blues’) is also celebrating its 30th birthday this month. The ceremony for the installation of the Joey Ramone Place sign is scheduled for 1.00pm on the November 30.

Ramone's fans have been trying to get the corner named after Joey Ramone since his death, from cancer, in April 2001. The group never really achieved massive commercial success during their career but are credited with inspiring the Sex Pistols and a whole legion of punk bands, and since the death of Joey’s bandmate Dee Dee Ramone, there has been a spate of tributes to the outfit including a star studded covers album and an induction into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002