POISONED HEART

With more than 50 never-before-published photos of The Ramones


Often cited as the first ever punk-rock group, with all members having been inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, The Ramones are included in the list of Rolling Stone’s Top 50 Bands of All Time and Spin Magazine's 2nd Greatest Band of All Time, outranked only by The Beatles and in 2011 the band was honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.   The Ramones are nothing if not legendary.  “Waking up the neighbors” and setting the U.S. and U.K. music scenes on fire in the 70s and through the ’80s, The Ramones’ story is tragic and raw, sentiments that could also best describe the band’s songwriter, bass player, and unsung genius, Dee Dee. 

A wild ride into the heart and soul of New York City, Poisoned Heart is Vera Ramones King’s last testament to her former husband, who shocked the world when he died in 2002 of a drug overdose despite having been clean for years. 


Dee Dee defined the punk-rock lifestyle. He was a rash, often violent, heroin addict, and no one better understood his twisted mentality, or insanity, than his devoted wife Vera. But Vera, herself a less destructive “Nancy” to Dee Dee’s “Sid,” also came to know the Dee Dee that music fans worldwide held near and dear: a generous, loving man who had a soft-spot for bums, who grew up in the tough streets of Queens, who never stopped working, writing, and performing, who often treated his wife like a Punk Rock Princess, and whose greatest joy was the look on his fans’ faces as he played them a song. 


For true fans of The Ramones, those who remember the 1970s as a time of music innovation and inspired creativity, groupies, wannabes, and true music-lovers everywhere, Poisoned Heart is destined to become a literary—and rock—classic.