New York Dolls lead singer David Johansen has died at the age of 75 after battling stage four cancer, a brain tumour and a broken back.
The singer passed away at his home in New York on Friday at the age of 75. The singer's stepdaughter, Leah Hennessey, confirmed the news, and that he died at home.
Johansen was the last remaining member of the legendary band that helped pave the way for the punk rock scene of the mid-to-late 1970s, which spawned bands such as The Ramones and Blondie in New York, and Sex Pistols and The Clash in London.
His death was confirmed in a statement to Rolling Stone: "David Johansen died at home in NYC on Friday afternoon holding hands with his wife Mara Hennessey and daughter Leah, surrounded by music, flowers, and love.
"He was 75 years old and died of natural causes after nearly a decade of illness."
Johansen's death occured just weeks after he revealed he was battling stage four cancer and a brain tumor, and had been bedridden and incapacitated following a fall in November where he broke his back in two places.
A fund was launched at the time by Johansen's family to raise money for his around-the-clock care.
The New York Dolls recorded two hugely influential glam punk albums, 1973's New York Dolls and 1974's Too Much Too Soon, with Johansen co-writing the bulk of the albums with guitarist Johnny Thunders, who died in 1991.
Following the band's breakup in 1975, Johansen recorded albums under his own name and by his swing alter ego Buster Poindexter. He also enjoyed a sidebar acting career and appeared in films such as Scrooged and Let It Ride.
In 2004, Johansen reunited the New York Dolls with then surviving original members Sylvain Sylvain (who died in 2021) and Arthur Kane (who died in 2004, shorthy after the reunion), and they recorded three more albums and toured, before disbanding the Dolls in 2011.
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