The influential proto-punk band New York Dolls’ lead singer, David Johansen, known for his captivating stage presence and Buster Poindexter alter ego, passed away at his residence in New York City on February 28. He was 75 years old.
Johansen’s step-daughter, Leah Hennessey, confirmed that the iconic singer died peacefully at home, accompanied by his wife, Mara Hennessey, and Leah, amidst music and flowers. His health had been significantly deteriorating for a decade, leading to his death from natural causes.
In February, the family disclosed that Johansen had been engaged in a grim battle with stage 4 cancer for nearly ten years and had also been diagnosed with a brain tumor.
Born in 1950 on Staten Island, New York, Johansen’s passion for singing was evident early on. His father, an opera singer turned insurance salesman, and his librarian mother, influenced his early life. Instead of attending college, Johansen joined an experimental acting group and subsequently became the lead singer of the Vagabond Missionaries, a Staten Island band in the late 1960s.
Johansen’s critical career breakthrough occurred when he joined the New York Dolls in 1972. The band’s debut album was released in 1973, followed by “Too Much Too Soon” in 1974. Although neither album was commercially successful initially, they later received recognition as cornerstones of the punk movement, with the debut album being listed among Rolling Stone’s greatest albums of all time.
As Billboard pointed out in 2021, several artists from the 1970s and beyond owe their success to the innovative appearance, sound, and attitude of the glammed-up New York Dolls.
After the disbandment of the Dolls in the mid-1970s, Johansen forged a successful solo career, releasing four albums between 1978 and 1984. In 1987, he introduced his alter ego Buster Poindexter, a lounge singer persona that led to mainstream success with the hit “Hot Hot Hot.”
In a 1988 interview with PEOPLE, Johansen explained the origin of his character’s name. He noted that people called him “Buster” on the streets, but when they saw him with books, they referred to him as “Poindexter,” combining intellectualism with a punk attitude.
The role switch was a success, with Rolling Stone declaring his debut Buster Poindexter album “the party album of the year,” reaching No. 40 on the Billboard 200. His performances were marked by storytelling between songs, often including stories from his rock and roll past.
Despite the popularity of “Hot Hot Hot,” Johansen had mixed feelings about it. He once referred to it as “the bane of my existence” and in 2015, told PEOPLE that artists who achieve a hit song often feel compelled to perform it, even when they’d prefer not to. He noted that their sentiments toward the song can change over time.
Beyond his music career, Johansen was also an accomplished actor, appearing in films like “Scrooged” (1988), “Married to the Mob” (1988), and TV shows such as “The Adventures of Pete & Pete” and “Oz.”
In 2004, Johansen reunited with the surviving members of the New York Dolls. What was initially planned as a single performance turned into an eight-year revival. “We were gonna do one show, and then we wound up playing for eight years and went around the world like three times,” he told PEOPLE.
In 2015, Johansen returned to his Buster Poindexter persona for performances at New York’s iconic Café Carlyle.
A 2023 documentary titled “Personality Crisis: One Night Only,” directed by Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi, focused on Johansen. The film, centered around his cabaret performances, featured interviews with his step-daughter Leah.
The energy of Johansen’s performances drew Scorsese, who had known Johansen for decades. “It had a poignancy to it, and a beauty,” Scorsese remembered about Johansen’s shows.
Leah Hennessey provided a final update about her father before his death, revealing to PEOPLE, “He’s very, very sick, but he’s reading all the messages, and he’s getting in touch with people he hasn’t talked to in many years.” She added, “He’s totally with us — mentally, emotionally, [but] he’s physically incapacitated.”
Johansen was thrice married: first to actress Cyrinda Foxe from 1977 to 1978, then to photographer Kate Simon from 1983 to 2011, and lastly to artist Mara Hennessey in 2013. Leah Hennessey spoke of her parents’ relationship, saying their love was like a myth – in love every moment of the day.
Johansen is survived by his wife, Mara, and step-daughter, Leah.
