Marc
Steven Bell (born July 15,
1952) is an American drummer. He began playing in hard rock bands in the New York City area, notably Dust and Estus. He was asked to drum for punk rock band Richard Hell and the
Voidoids. He replaced drummer Tommy Ramone in the Ramones in 1978, and went by the stage name Marky
Ramone from then on. He has also drummed for a number of other punk
rock and heavy metal bands, and with his own band Marky Ramone and the
Intruders. He continues to keep the Ramones legacy alive around the
world with his band Marky Ramone's Blitzkrieg. Ramone lives in Brooklyn Heights with his wife, Marion Flynn In
2015, he released his autobiography Punk Rock Blitzkrieg: My Life as a
Ramone. According to his autobiography, he and his twin brother Fred were
born at New York Infirmary for Indigent Women
and Children on July 15, 1952, and is of Dutch ancestry on his
father's side and of French and German ancestry on his mother's side. Bell
began playing drums in 1971 with the hard rock band Dust, featuring Kenny Aaronson on bass and Richie Wise on guitar, and
produced by Kenny Kerner. Bell recorded two albums with the band, before
getting into the punk scene. In late 1972,
following the death of the New York Dolls' original drummer Billy Murcia, Bell was the only seriously considered
alternative to the eventually chosen Jerry Nolan. "Jerry and I knew each other," he
said. "When Billy died, I went down to the loft where the Dolls were
auditioning… I could do different time signatures, different accents, and I basically overplayed
it – put in all these drum fills that weren't necessary. And Jerry just kept
the beat straight. So Jerry got it and I didn't." In 1973,
Marky joined Estus and recorded an album of the same name, produced by the Rolling Stones' first
producer, Andrew Loog Oldham.
Bandmates for Estus included Harry Rumpf and Tom and John Nicholas. In the
mid-1970s, Bell joined Richard Hell and the
Voidoids and played on their first album, Blank Generation. In
May 1978, Tommy Ramone asked
Bell to join the Ramones; he accepted and was renamed Marky Ramone. Marky was
with the Ramones for the next five years. He starred in the movie Rock 'n' Roll High School,
recorded the anthem, "I Wanna be Sedated", and worked with legendary
producer Phil Spector. After five
albums with Dee Dee, Joey, and Johnny Ramone, Marky was asked to leave the band
in February 1983 because of a drinking problem. He was replaced by Richie Ramone who was himself replaced four years later
by Clem Burke of Blondie, who was asked to leave after only two shows. Marky
returned clean and sober in August 1987, and played 1,700 shows and recorded
ten studio albums with the band until their retirement in August 1996. In
1996, Marky joined Dee Dee Ramone to form the Ramainz, performing Ramones songs. In 2000, Marky joined
Joey to record Joey's solo album, entitled Don't Worry About Me.
Joey told talk show host Joe Franklin that Marky was his favorite drummer along
with Keith Moon. In 1997 and 1999, Marky recorded two albums with his solo band
Marky Ramone and the Intruders. In 2001, he was presented with a lifetime
achievement award from MTV by U2 singer Bono.
In September 2004, Ramone served as executive producer and released a Ramones
DVD entitled Ramones: Raw, which featured
footage of the band while on tour all over the world along with other various
rare, vintage footage. Much of the candid footage is courtesy of Marky Ramone's
personal video library. Ramones: Raw is the only certified
gold-selling Ramones DVD and one of only two US gold selling releases in the
Ramone entire catalog, the other being the greatest hits double LP Ramones Mania. Ramones: Raw is also the
highest charting release in Ramones history. On April 22, 2008, Marky Ramone
appeared on a new CD in Canada playing drums with the Canadian punk band
called Teenage Head.[7] The CD was called Teenage Head with
Marky Ramone and was released in the USA on June 10, 2008.