Dee Dee was found apparently unconscious by his wife at around 8:40 PM last night (6-5).  When she couldn’t rouse him she called the police and paramedics pronounced him dead soon after they arrived at his Hollywood home. 

There is no indication of the cause of death at this time but a spokesman for the coroner’s office said that they are looking at a possible accidental drug overdose. 

Dee Dee is best known as one of the founding members of the Ramones but he was also a solo recording artist, painter, and writer. He was born Douglas Colvin on September 18th 1952 in Ft Lee Virginia and spent most of his youth growing up on a military installation in Berlin, where his father was stationed. His family later relocated to Queens where he discovered rock and started playing the guitar. 

At was at that time that he also began what would prove a long battle with heroin. Inspired by the glam scene of the early 70’s that had taken a hold of the New York music world, Dee Dee found a like-minded friend in John Cummings and the two decided to start at band of their own. They recruited a drummer named Jeff Hyman but Jeff was proficient enough on his instrument so they made him the vocalist for the group. Their manager Tom Erdelyi stepped in on drums and the line up was complete. They dubbed themselves the Ramones. Each member took on a Ramone surname, Colvin became Dee Dee Ramone, Cummings became Johnny Ramone, Hyman became Joey Ramone and Erdelyi became Tommy Ramone. 

The group’s stripped down playing style hit a chord with New York youth and the Ramones became the forefathers of the punk rock movement that would take the music world by storm in the late 70’s. Through the late 70’s and the 80’s the Ramones commanded a fierce and loyal fanbase but by 1989 Dee Dee started to feel constrained by the band and it’s image and suddenly quit the group to pursue his solo aspirations. 

His first post Ramones project was his experiment in rap music. Renaming himself Dee Dee King, his produced one rap album, “Standing in the Spotlight” which failed to catch on with the fans. He toyed with the idea of forming a supergroup with former New York Dolls guitarist Johnny Thunders and ex-Dead Boys singer Stiv Bators but the project never worked out. 

In the early 90’s Dee Dee was a member of the shock rock group G.G. Allin & the Murder Junkies for a short period of time before he concentrated his efforts on another solo project. This time sticking to his roots and using his Ramone last name he released two albums, 1995’s “I Hate Freaks Like You” and 1997’s “Zonked.” But he also appeared on the final Ramones studio album, “Adios Amigos” in 1995 as well as with some of his former bandmates last March during induction of the Ramones into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame.  

During the late 90’s he formed a Ramones tribute band called “the Remains” with other former Ramones members C.J. and Marky. They produced one album of Ramones covered titled “Latest & Greatest” in 2000. 

Apart from music, Dee Dee found a creative release in painting and writing. He wrote his autobiography “'Lobotomy: Surviving the Ramones” as well as a novel, “'Chelsea Horror Hotel”. 

During the past few years he had also taken part in other projects, he was interviewed for the book, “'Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk” and appeared in Johnny Thunders 1999 documentary, “Born to Lose: The Last Rock N' Roll Movie.”

Dee Dee is the second founding member of the Ramones to pass away. Joey Ramone (Jeffrey Hyman) died of lymphoma on Easter Sunday in April of 2001.  
 
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