He was often at odds with guitarist Johnny Ramone, despite a 20+ year collaboration with the Ramones. They disagreed on many things, from the artistic direction of the band (Johnny wanted to keep performing similar material, Joey wanted to experiment more) to politics (Johnny was a die-hard Republican conservative, Joey was an outspoken liberal), but the main wedge occurred when Johnny stole Joey's girlfriend Linda and eventually married her.
Both the Sex Pistols and the Clash credit the Ramones as a source of inspiration in their formative years.
An outcast in his neighborhood, he was frequently a target of bullies in school on account of his towering height and awkward demeanor which was a result of his severe obsessive-compulsive disorder.
East Second Street between the Bowery and Second Avenue, the street adjacent to the legendary club CBGB in New York City, was renamed the Joey Ramone Place after his death.
Actively disliked the Parents Music Resource Center, considering it a form of censorship. He wrote the song "Censorshit" about this.
Everybody's just emulated us and now everybody just kinda takes our
sound as their foundations.
[Song lyrics] "Life's a gas, Life's a gas, Life's a gas, a gas, oh
yeah/ Life's a gas, Life's a gas, Life's a gas, a gas, oh yeah/ So
don't be sad 'cause I'll be there/ Don't be sad at all"
[Commenting on their very first performance at CBGB's] "We played to an
audience of five, but that's only if you include the bartender's dog."
To me, punk is about being an individual and going against the grain
and standing up and saying 'This is who I am'. To me, John Lennon and
Elvis Presley were punks, because they made music that evoked those
emotions in people. And as long as people are making music that does
that, punk rock is alive and well.
The Eagles and the Captain and Tennille ruled the airwaves, and we were the answer to it.
