Heroin overdose killed Ramone legend

Punk rocker Dee Dee Ramone, who died in June, was killed by a heroin overdose, officials in the US said.

A toxicological examination of blood samples taken during a postmortem found that Ramone had a lethal amount in his body, Los Angeles coroner’s office spokesman David Campbell said yesterday.

Ramone, a founding member of the punk rock band Ramones, was found dead on the sofa at his home by his wife on June 5.

An overdose was suspected because drug paraphernalia, including a syringe, was found nearby.

His death, at age 50, came 11 weeks after the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and 14 months after the group’s 49-year-old lead singer Joey Ramone died of cancer.

Dee Dee Ramone was one of the band’s major songwriters and its bassist, bringing a fast-paced sound to an era dominated by disco and corporate rock. The first album, Ramones, was released in 1976.

The Ramones’ best-known songs were Beat on the Brat, I Wanna Be Sedated, Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue, Teenage Lobotomy and Sheena Is a Punk Rocker.

In his autobiography, Lobotomy: Surviving the Ramones, Dee Dee Ramone, whose real name was Douglas Glenn Colvin, wrote of his struggle with drug and alcohol abuse.