David Johansen, the iconic former lead singer of the punk band New York Dolls, has passed away at the age of 75 at his home in New York on Friday. His daughter, Leah Hennessey, confirmed his death to Variety.
Earlier this month, Johansen publicly shared that he was battling stage four cancer, a brain tumor, and a broken back. His daughter disclosed the news of his diagnosis during a Sweet Relief fundraiser aimed at covering his medical expenses. She also revealed that he had been undergoing intensive treatment for much of the past decade, and that his condition worsened in 2020 with the development of a brain tumor.
The family had kept his health struggles private until now, choosing to speak out due to the overwhelming financial burden caused by his ongoing care. Tragically, Johansen suffered a fall the day after Thanksgiving, breaking his back in two places. After undergoing successful surgery and spending a week in the hospital, he was left bedridden and severely incapacitated. Leah explained that her mother, Mara Hennessey, had been providing round-the-clock care for him.
In her fundraiser post, Leah shared that, despite Johansen’s enduring wit and humor, his physical condition had become too much for the family to manage alone. “David’s illness has progressed exponentially,” she said, emphasizing the need for professional assistance for his continued treatment and care.
While Johansen had spent nearly six decades working as a musician and actor, Leah noted that he had not been able to perform in the last five years due to his declining health. She mentioned the urgent need for full-time nursing, physical therapy, and assistance with daily living expenses.
The fundraiser, which did not specify Johansen’s exact type of cancer, included personal photos of David with his family and a recent image of him in the hospital. Johansen, in a statement shared with Rolling Stone, described his condition as “the worst pain” he had ever felt. “This tumble really brought us to a whole new level of debilitation,” he explained. “This is the worst pain I’ve ever experienced in my entire life.”
David Johansen was known not only for leading the New York Dolls, but also for his solo career and his alter ego, Buster Poindexter, who famously sang “Hot Hot Hot” in 1987.
As an actor, he appeared in films like Scrooged (1988). Recently, Johansen had been hosting a weekly radio show on SiriusXM, titled The Mansion of Fun, and had showcased his paintings at the Elliot Temple Fine Arts gallery in New York. In 2022, a documentary about his life, Personality Crisis: One Night Only, was released, directed by Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi.
