Ramones star in hospital

Johnny Ramone, guitarist for the legendary punk band The Ramones, is in hospital in Los Angeles with an infection related to prostate cancer, his publicist said today.

“He is receiving the medication he needs and will be leaving the hospital next week to continue his recovery,” Paul Bloch said.

Ramone, 55, real name John Cummings, is at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

He and his wife Linda released the statement in response to recent, conflicting reports about his health, Bloch said.

In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, drummer Marky Ramone said the guitarist’s health was declining.

“He went through many chemotherapy treatments,” Marky Ramone told the magazine. “Some of it worked better than others. At this point (the cancer) has started to go into other areas of the body.”

Bloch said he was unaware of the Rolling Stone report.

Johnny Ramone was one of the original four members of the band, whose memorable three-chord anthems like I Wanna Be Sedated and Blitzkrieg Bop landed them in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.

The band formed in New York in the mid-1970s, eventually becoming mainstays of the city’s Bowery nightclub CBGB’s where Blondie and the Talking Heads both emerged.

The band’s singer Joey Ramone died in 2001 of lymphatic cancer. Bassist Dee Dee Ramone died from a drug overdose in 2002.