David Johansen, who fronted the legendary 1970s proto-punk band New York Dolls and who also recorded under the pseudonym Buster Poindexter, died on Friday, February 28, his representative, Carla Parisi of Kid Logic Media, shared via email. The musician “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,” according to a statement. Johansen was 75 years old.
The statement said that Johansen “died of natural causes after nearly a decade of illness,” but the musician had also recently revealed that he had been living with stage 4 cancer. At the time, his daughter, Leah Hennessey, launched a Sweet Relief fundraiser to help cover the costs of his care and medical treatment.
David Roger Johansen was born on Staten Island, in 1950, where he was raised by a librarian mother and insurance salesman father. Johansen has reflected fondly on his home borough over the years, recording a two–part podcast on his idyllic childhood, which he spent zipping around on a bicycle, listening to records, and riling up the nuns at his Catholic school. In 2009, he appeared on Anthony Bourdain’s food show No Reservations as a guide to Staten Island’s culinary fare. At one point, Johansen told Bourdain that his beloved borough’s South Beach “rivals Kauai.”
Like many architects of punk’s first wave, Johansen grew up devouring blues and rock’n’roll singles, many of which he bought at Staten Island’s since-shuttered Dew Dale Records. Young Johansen took a shine to Howlin’ Wolf, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Fats Domino, the Platters, and the girl groups of the 1960s, many of which were produced by Phil Spector. The latter’s influence is evident on the early New York Dolls song “Looking for a Kiss,” which kicks off with Johansen reciting the opening line of the Shangri-Las’ “Give Him a Great Big Kiss”: “When I Say I’m in Love, you best believe I’m in love: L-U-V,” Johansen sneers, just before the band comes in. Years later, New York Dolls guitarist Johnny Thunders repeated the phrase while covering “Great Big Kiss” on solo debut So Alone.
In high school, Johansen watched as multiple siblings (he was one of six) took part in musicals. He, instead, was busy making a name for himself in the New York rock scene. By the early 1970s, Johansen joined the New York Dolls and he sang on the band’s self-titled debut. At the time, the group featured Johansen, Sylvain Sylvain, bassist Arthur “Killer” Kane, drummer Jerry Nolan, and guitarist Johnny Thunders. The album, produced by Todd Rundgren, was divisive upon release, in 1973, but has proved to be a classic of the glam rock and proto-punk genres.
The New York Dolls released just one more studio album, 1974’s Too Much Too Soon, before they were dropped by their label, Mercury, for two records that did not sell well. Within the next year or two, the New York Dolls broke up for the first time.
Johansen shared his first solo album, a self-titled effort, in 1978, and he went on to release several more records in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Eventually, he adopted the persona Buster Poindexter. As Poindexter, he scored his first real hit, a cover of Arrow’s “Hot Hot Hot,” which reached No. 45 on the Billboard Hot 100.
In 2004, the former Smiths singer Morrissey helped Johansen reunite with his New York Dolls bandmates Sylvain Sylvain and Arthur Kane for shows in London. Kane died not long after the reunion, but Johansen, Sylvain, and others came together to record the New York Dolls’ 2006 comeback album, One Day It Will Please Us to Remember Even This. The reunited Dolls went on to make two more albums: the Todd Rundgren–produced Cause I Sez So and 2011’s Dancing Backward in High Heels.
Late in his life, Johansen was the subject of a documentary from directors Martin Scorses and David Tedeschi, Personality Crisis: One Night Only. “I’ve known David Johansen for decades, and his music has been a touchstone ever since I listened to the Dolls when I was making Mean Streets,” Scorsese said when he announced the film. “Then and now, David’s music captures the energy and excitement of New York City. I often see him perform, and over the years I’ve gotten to know the depth of his musical inspirations. After seeing his show last year at the Café Carlyle, I knew I had to film it because it was so extraordinary to see the evolution of his life and his musical talent in such an intimate setting. For me, the show captured the true emotional potential of a live musical experience.”