Dee Dee Ramone quotes:

It was sad when Sid Vicious died... I was freaked out when Phil Lynott died from Thin Lizzy. I cried. It was too crazy.

I started listening to and playing other music in the '90s. It was after hearing other bands, like Bad Religion, cover Ramones songs that I started to like our songs again.

Billboard called my solo album, 'Standing In The Spotlight,' a great party album and even said that my raps put the Beastie Boys to shame.

When I got into rap I didn't exactly win any popularity contests. I called myself Dee Dee King, after B.B. King, to the total dismay of my fellow Ramones.

Metallica - they're so demonic, they're crazy, I don't know how they do it.

I like the guitar better these days. I like the bass, too, but it's hard to fit a bass amp in a small car.

I like California a lot more than New York these days.

I got tired of the Ramones around the time I quit and I really got into rap. I thought it was the new punk rock. LL Cool J was my biggest idol.

Progression is important. I'm always going to play music in the general vein of rock'n'roll, but when I started I was very much associated with the West Coast lo-fi thing and I didn't want to get anchored in with anything that was just in vogue for the time being.

I used to be a hairdresser.

I loved rap, especially in the early days. But I wasn't trying to shove it down anybody's throats.

Ricky Nelson... I couldn't believe it when he died. He was a great rock star.

Visuals are as artistic as sounds, so being serious about both isn't a contradiction to me.

The main issue was deciding what to play: Should it be old Ramones material or new material? I had about three albums worth of new material, but I knew that people would rather hear the Ramones songs.

I didn't have the confidence to leave the band because of a solo career, or anything like that. I just wanted to grow.

I'd like to congratulate myself, and thank myself, and give myself a big pat on the back.

I think the Internet shortens the distance between people, and that can often lead to inappropriateness.

I've always admired people with really strong presences and felt that caring about the visual component of what you do is not intrinsically superficial or vain.

I haven't done rap... I can't do that too well.

I was a big troublemaker in the group. I put them through a lot of pain, but as much as I gave to them, they gave right back to me.

No one in the group was really growing up besides me, which is pretty weird 'cause there was no one in that group more self-destructive than I was.

I've always liked extreme performers; I don't think I am one, but my mentality is in line with that.

Because I'm quiet, people think I'm really cold, or rude, or snobby. But I'm literally scared to talk to them.

It's very hard to tour.

I get really affected by songs as a music listener - they mean so much and they feel so significant.

There's a side to being in a band that some people embrace and some don't: the fact that you're performing and you care about how it comes across.

I had a really intense flying dream most of my childhood into my teens. I would go out at night and fly all over the city and I could facilitate other people to fly with me.

I'm really lucky I'm still around. Everybody expected me to die next... But it was always someone else instead of me.

All of my favorite records have vocals high in the mix, even if it's music that wasn't necessarily mainstream.

I like to do what I do in my house and I love to play shows, but I don't want to have to go out and talk to a bunch of people I don't know.

Initially, I was very much concerned with having absolute control. But as time has gone by, I'm not. I mean, the whole first record was really just how I spent my free time: stoned and drinking coffee in my house, spending three hours on a song.

I've always just wanted to sing in a rock band.

I get starstruck really easily. I love music so much - it sounds so silly to say that - so if I'm playing a festival and somebody I love, like [Primal Scream's] Bobby Gillespie, is there in the backstage area, I'm like, "Wow this is amazing! There they are!"

When I met Ronnie Spector, she walked in and said, 'You look like me.'

I'd like to thank myself, and congratulate myself, and give myself a big pat on the back.

Wondering what I'm doing tonight I've been in the closet and feel all right

It's very expensive to bring a band to New York.

I couldn't do rap. I was trying. I don't know how. I'm not good enough to know.

I think it would be nice to be a prince.