David Johansen, legendary co-founder of the NEW YORK DOLLS, died last Friday at his home on Staten Island. He was 75.

Last Saturday, March 1, Johansen‘s representative released the following statement: “David Johansen died at home in New York City 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 revealed last month that he had been living with stage 4 cancer and a brain tumor. Diagnosed in 2020, Johansen made the decision to keep his illness private, but due to the severe financial burden, he wanted to share it with his fans and supporters. In November 2024, he fell and broke his back in two places, which required surgery. Despite a successful procedure, David became bedridden and incapacitated.

In a statement at the time announcing a fundraising campaign through the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund to assist with his medical bills, Johansen said : “We’ve been living with my illness for a long time, still having fun, seeing friends and family, carrying on, but this tumble the day after Thanksgiving really brought us to a whole new level of debilitation. This is the worst pain I’ve ever experienced in my entire life. I’ve never been one to ask for help, but this is an emergency. Thank you.”

Johansen‘s daughter, Leah Hennessey, added in February: “David has been in intensive treatment for stage 4 cancer for most of the past decade. There have been complications ever since. He’s never made his diagnosis public, as he and my mother Mara are generally very private people, but we feel compelled to share this now, due to the increasingly severe financial burden our family is facing.”

Later speaking exclusively with People about her father, Leah said: “He’s very, very sick, but he’s reading all the messages, and he’s getting in touch with people he hasn’t talked to in many years. The connection is probably the best thing for him right now — as it is for all of us.”

She continued: “He’s totally with us — mentally, emotionally, [but] he’s physically incapacitated.”

David was recently the subject of Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi‘s documentary “Personality Crisis: One Night Only” which brilliantly captures an evening of David‘s songs and storytelling, and gives a little context to the wild tapestry of David‘s life.

David was the lead singer and songwriter of the legendary NEW YORK DOLLS, widely acknowledged as one of the first (and coolest) punk bands. David started his own group, the DAVID JOHANSEN BAND, before reinventing himself yet again in the 1980s as Buster Poindexter. Inspired by his passion for the blues and arcane American folk music David formed the group THE HARRY SMITHS, and toured the world performing the songs of Howlin’ Wolf with Hubert Sumlin and Levon Helm. Of all these incarnations, David is most often recognized for his work in a handful of beloved films, like the Christmas classic “Scrooged”, and the race track comedy “Let it Ride”. Before his passing, he hosted his weekly radio show “The Mansion Of Fun” on SiriusXM.

David had an exhibition of his paintings in New York last summer at Elliot Templeton Fine Arts gallery.