LA donned its leather jackets and skinny jeans to pay homage to the blueprint for punk rock.
In honour of its 50th anniversary, a star-studded tribute concert for the Ramones’ self-titled debut album was held in Los Angeles on Sunday night.
The event boasted a sold-out crowd at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, where Dee Dee Ramone is buried and a bronze memorial statue of Johnny Ramone stands.
Artist and activist Shepard Fairey started the night off with a DJ set to get the vibes flowing, but that was just the beginning.
A new supergroup dubbed the ‘Cretin Family’ was the main event of the night, made up of CJ Ramone, Billie Joe Armstrong, Travis Barker, Billy Idol and Tim Armstrong. The group took its name from the Ramones’ song ‘Cretin Family’, from the 1995 album ¡Adiós Amigos!.
They performed a set of 19 iconic covers, including hits like ‘I Wanna Be Sedated’ and ‘Sheena Is a Punk Rocker’, before finishing strong with ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’.
The all-star performance was nothing short of spectacular. Their cover of ‘Surfin’ Bird’ by The Trashmen was certainly a non-Ramones highlight — Billie encapsulated its manic, rapid-fire energy flawlessly.
Linda Ramone, Johnny’s widow, presented the entire event alongside ’70s superstar John Travolta, in support of cancer research at the Ellison Medical Institute.
Why John Travolta, you may ask?
Well, nobody seems quite sure. Regardless, there was a double feature of Travolta’s films Carrie and Propeller One-Way Night Coach to close out the night, so there was no shortage of quality entertainment across all mediums.
The Johnny Ramone Tribute has been an annual event since 2005, raising funds for cancer research following the punk legend’s death from prostate cancer in late 2004. It features live music, entertainment and celebrity appearances, and has previously hosted household rock and metal names like Rob Zombie, Misfits and Morrissey.
This edition paid homage to Ramones, the self-titled 1976 album often credited as one of the pillars of punk rock — loud, fast music made on a tiny budget of just $6,000.
Over the years, this underdog record cemented the Ramones as hugely influential figures whose energy is still felt by millions of people, even half a century later.
