Johnny Ramone’s widow Linda discussed the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in a new Curbed LA article. Chris Cornell’s remains are buried next to Johnny, his good friends. Linda discussed the annual Johnny Ramone tribute event, which also featured a Chris Cornell memorial this year.
“Everyone loves it. Everyone loves going,” Linda says of Hollywood Forever. “I’ve been told by many people that people come to the Johnny Ramone Tribute and meet up and talk about starting bands together. People have told Howie Pyro [who DJs the annual Johnny Ramone Tribute] that, and they always say, ‘we’ll see you next year.’ People love it. I love doing the tribute, and I think it means a lot. I like seeing the generations of kids that come. We have a lot of young kids that come, and it’s great to see everyone wearing Ramones shirts.”
The article features a past LA Weekly Morrissey quote about Hollywood Forever.
“I like it…I stumbled across Johnny Ramone’s stone—I thought his stone was very nicely placed.”
“And I sat there for a very long time, and I felt quite good about it. I felt it was a nice position, and it was nice that his bones were under the soil that I was sitting on. So, yeah. That’s my spot. And I have considered putting money down for reserving a spot.” (He got the details wrong, but the sentiment was true.)
For Linda Ramone, Hollywood Forever continues to be a place of solace and celebration, a place where the music stays alive.
“Johnny would love it,” Linda Ramone says later in the article. “He wanted his statue to be the most visited statue out of anywhere—as big as Jim Morrison’s grave is in Paris. He always wanted people to come visit.”
