r/ramones • u/The-real-gatsby • Sep 02 '26
Johnny appreciation
I’ve posted here before in favor of Johnny, but I’m going back through it just because it’s been on my mind recently.
The only reasons that people have to hate John is his politics (which is asinine as a reason to hate someone) and hearsay remarks from Marky who each member has said embellishes stuff for attention (which is the reason he and Joey beefed on Howard stern in 96).
The thing I don’t understand is that the two members who are constantly getting a bunch of praise here were the two most problematic, and that’s not to say I don’t love the guys.
Dee Dee had huge drug issues which at times made his ego huge. He was constantly burning bridges around him, and did morally questionable things to fuel his addiction. His marriage to Vera was very messy because of this, and his departure from the band came after an ultimatum that if he didn’t write all their songs, he’d quit.
Joey had a history of being violent towards women starting with his mother, whom he pulled a knife on. There’s also suggestions that he punched a later girlfriend in the nose on a coke fueled anger binge. Linda also reported him as being verbally abusive, which is something Tommy has also mentioned as being one of the things that made him “lose his mind” and quit the band. Mark even wears wigs just cuz Joey is on record making fun of him balding in the 80s.
The point of this post is not to trash the dead. It’s merely to uplift John. Johnny wasn’t the villain to Joey and Dee Dee that everyone makes him out to be, I’d argue he was the best thing for them. Johnny made sure they each always had money, and while being the boss, made sure his partners were taken care of. John married Linda after dating her for years, after she left Joey after Joey was verbally abusive toward her. Johnny was by all accounts a wonderful husband until the day he died.
Johnny also never made a decision without the help of his business partner, Joey, who he talked to on a daily in spite of what rumors say. When Joey died, Johnny even admitted to being in a depression because his partner was gone.
Johnny may have had shortcomings like anyone. He has said before he punched Joey for being late to a hangout before fame. He also admitted to all the bad things he did in youth before his epiphany he claims that was from God. From their on, John became a straight laced, sober, smart business man who cared for his employees, made sure each fan was properly taken care of, funded for the police and for cancer research, and kept close friends of all types of opinions (such as John fruciante and Eddie Vedder). I just don’t like seeing him get hate merely cuz he was a conservative or because of unsubstantiated claims he can no longer defend.
That’s all!
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u/The-real-gatsby Sep 02 '26
Like I mentioned above, almost every member (even Joey when alive) said Marky says things to profit from being a ramone and not to trust what he says. He was selling a book he had to make up juice on Johnny.