PUNK Rock icon David Johansen of the New York Dolls has revealed he has been fighting stage four cancer for almost a decade.
The 75-year-old rocker, who helped kickstart the glam punk movement in the 1970s, shared the news via the Sweet Relief Fund with the help of his daughter, Leah Hennessey.
Following the launch of the Sweet Relief Fund, David released a statement, asserting he is trying to remain positive amid his health woes.
“We’ve been living with my illness for a long time, still having fun, seeing friends & family, carrying on, but this tumble the day after Thanksgiving really brought us to a whole new level of debilitation,” he said via Brooklyn Vegan.
“This is the worst pain I’ve ever experienced in my entire life. I’ve never been one to ask for help but this is an emergency. Thank you.”
Tragically, the donation page details the severity of his health problems, revealing David’s cancer had progressed, and in 2020 – in the midst of the pandemic – the family had discovered he had a brain tumour.
As a result, he has been unable to work as he continues to receive treatment.
“There have been complications ever since,” Leah wrote on the site. “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.”
To make matters worse, David suffered a fall in his home in November last year, breaking his back in two places and leaving him incapacitated.
The family are appealing to fans to help raise funds in order to give David round-the-clock professional care, as his wife is currently doing it all herself.
New York Dolls shot to fame in the 1970s, releasing their self-titled debut album in 1973 to critical acclaim, but a small amount of success.
They were known for their radical and androgynous fashion style including make-up, platformed shoes and skin-tight PVC trousers.
Shortly after the release of second album, Too Much Too Soon, in 1974, the group started suffering a neverending rotation of band members.
David remained consistently the lead singer from the band’s launch until 1976, when he launched a solo career under the name Buster Poindexter.
But the music of the New York Dolls lived on, turning them into a cult success story, with artists including David Bowie, Joan Jett and The Smiths crediting them as influences in their work.
In 1988, David would appear alongside Bill Murray in Scrooged, comedy send-up of A Christmas Carol, in which he played the Ghost of Christmas Past.
