RIP Tommy Ramone

Tributes have been flooding the internet since news broke over the weekend that the last original member of highly influential punk rock band the Ramones has died. Drummer Tommy Ramone, whose birthname was Thomas Erdelyi, passed away at his home in Queens, New York, following unsuccessful treatment for bile duct cancer. He was aged 62.

Initially the group's manager, Erdelyi eventually ended up drumming for the Ramones after Joey Ramone struggled to keep up with the fever-pitch pace while singing at the same time. Erdelyi played the band's first three studio albums; their 1976 debut Ramones, and subsequent records Leave Home and Rocket to Russia (both 1977). He was replaced on drums in 1978 by Marky Ramone, but later featured on the band's first live album It's Alive and produced a handful of albums for the group.

Here's a video of the Ramones playing an early gig at the legendary CBGB's...