New York Dolls Singer David Johansen died after having fought a silent fight of Stadium 4 cancer for several years, Fox News Digital confirmed.
The wife of Johansen, Mara Hennessey, told Fox News Digital that he died on Friday in their “sunny bedroom, surrounded by flowers and music, hand in hand with me and our daughter, Leah.”
“We had a great adventure of a life together. He was an extraordinary man. So grateful that we went public with news about his illness before his death, because in recent weeks we were full of messages and love of family, friends and fans,” Hennessey shared.
New York Dolls singer David Johansen died. He was 75. (Getty Images)
In February Mara and Leah shared that David was fighting cancer and they were looking for support from his fans.
“David has been living with stage 4 cancer for several years. He has undergone chemo, radiation, immunotherapy and surgery and endure all side effects and consequences of the various treatments, all with his indomitable spirit and incomparable sense of humor,” Mara said.
“We had a great adventure of a life together. He was an extraordinary man.”
“He is fed by the love of his wife and daughter, trying to save his friends, colleagues and fans and keep his problems privately. He has always been like that.
“He claims it is because he is half Norwegian.”
Hennessey explained that the financial burden took a toll from their family.
David Johansen from the New York Dolls was diagnosed with a brain tumor and stage 4 cancer before his death. (Taylor Hill/Filmmagic)
“Our family has reached the point where we need more support. We have suffered a number of serious debts for our beloved David and are even more unmanageable costs. Trying to be withheld is not sustainable,” she concluded.
The daughter of Johansen, Leah Hennessey, went to Instagram last month to share the sad news.
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“David is a legend, but he is also my very really very sick father,” she wrote next to a photo of him on her Instagram story. “I have so much to say, but I think I will post a lot about this and I don’t have to say it all now. I know how terribly as much of our situations are now, and how much fundraising everyone literally does, but if you love David or one of the magic (sic) he has brought the world in the world for a minute to read or share this.
The daughter of David Johansen, Leah, announced his cancer on Instagram. (Leah Hennessey/Instagram)
Leah has also recorded a link to the Sweet Relief Musician Fund. The organization helps to raise money for musicians who struggle with health problems.
His daughter explained on the website that the cancer of Johan’s progressed five years ago and he had A brain tumor.
“Since then there have been complications. He has never made his diagnosis public, because he and my mother Mara are generally very private people, but we feel compelled to share this now, because of the increasingly serious financial burden that our family is confronted with,” the website says.
The New York dolls were Arthur Kane, Jerry Nolan, David Johansen, Sylvain Sylvain and Johnny Thunders. (Getty Images)
According to Leah, things took a turn on the worse around Thanksgiving.
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“To make matters worse, David dropped off the stairs the day after Thanksgiving and broke his back in two places,” she wrote on the website.
David Johansen from the New York Dolls who perform on stage in 2009. (Tim Mosenfelder/Getty images)
Johansen was operated on, but Leah said: “David is bedridden and disabled. Due to the trauma, David’s disease is exponentially advanced and my mother takes care of the clock for him.”
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Apart from the New York Dolls, Johansen is known for his alter ego, Buster Poindexter. In 1987 his song “Hot Hot Hot” was a Billboard -hit.
