C.J. Ramone

Christopher Joseph Ward (born October 8, 1965), better known as “C.J. Ramone”, is an American musician best known as the bassist for punk rock group The Ramones from 1989 to 1996.

His hometown is Queens, New York. Ward replaced original band-member Dee Dee Ramone, though Dee Dee continued to write songs for the group. C.J. sang many well-known Ramones songs, and gave The Ramones a young image. He was an ex-Marine and Ramones fan before he joined the band. He was a big Dee Dee Ramone fan, and played with him in a band called The Remains, or The Ramainz, which was formed by Dee Dee Ramone, Marky Ramone and Dee Dee’s wife, Barbara Zampini (Barbara Ramone). He also played with Los Gusanos and Bad Chopper. When C.J. joined the Ramones he was seen as a breath of fresh air into the band which, by the mid-80’s had slowed down and lost much of their onstage energy and presence. Johnny Ramone claimed he was happy to see Dee Dee replaced by the younger C.J. because by the time of his leaving the band, Dee Dee had become “annoying” and had troubles with drug addiction. Johnny also claims he knew immediately when C.J. auditioned to replace Dee Dee that he was right, commenting that he “had the right look”. When the Ramones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame original Ramones drummer, Tommy Ramone, credited C.J. with “keeping the band young”. CJ also had the idea for the band to cover Tom Waits’ “I Don’t Want to Grow Up” on the album ¡Adios Amigos!.