David Johansen, Frontman for New York Dolls, Dies at 75

The musician also performed under the name Buster Poindexter

David Johansen, frontman for the punk band the New York Dolls, died at his home in New York City weeks after revealing his diagnosis of stage 4 cancer and a brain tumor. He was 75.

Johansen’s death, which occurred Friday, was confirmed by his daughter, Leah Hennessey.

Hennessey previously shared that her father had become “incapacitated” after a recent fall and the family needed help with his medical bills. “David is a legend but he’s also my very real, very sick dad,” she explained. Hennessey also added that her father “has been in intensive treatment for stage 4 cancer for most of the past decade.”

“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,” she also explained.

The New York Dolls were one of the forefathers of punk and inspired the era of glam rock led by bands such as Mötley Crüe. Despite that acclaim, the band never found mainstream success and broke up after their second record was released.

Johansen began to perform as Buster Poindexter in the 1980s. He was still performing under the name in 2016 when he spoke to Vulture about his career.

Johansen told the outlet that his performances with the Dolls were “not as expansive as far as talking is concerned between songs” because “people are standing, and they’re drunk, and they just want to jump up and down.” In contrast, he enjoyed the work as Poindexter because “it gives me a chance to say whatever comes to my mind, and to get a response from it instead of people going, Huh? It’s refreshing.”