Punk Trailblazer David Johansen, Who Later Created Buster Poindexter, Dies at 75

David Johansen, the trailblazing lead singer of the punk band the New York Dolls, died Friday at 75.

His death from cancer was announced by his stepdaughter Leah Hennessey.

Johansen had struggled against stage 4 cancer for the better part of 10 years, including a brain tumor. In November, he fell and broke his back, leading to a GoFundMe drive.

On Valentine's Day, he and his wife of more than 10 years, Mara Hennessey, appeared in a video for the campaign, in which a bedridden Johansen said, "I've never asked for help in my life. Lately, Mara has been teaching me the beauty of, when your chips are down, asking for help."

Johansen was born in NYC on January 9, 1950. After a stint singing with the Staten Island group the Vagabond Missionaries in the '60s, he became the frontman and songwriter for the New York Dolls in the early '70s. The group is considered a prototype for the punk movement to follow.

The band was also noted for consisting of men who frequently wore smeared lipstick and dresses. In 2006, Johansen told The Bay Area Reporter, "Some people thought we were gay, and some people didn't. But we were like the toughest gang of [lesbians] you ever saw, so if people came up to us and started something, they would regret it."

The Dolls released two studio albums that made them icons of cool, but that failed to sell in big numbers initially.

Johansen exited the band in 1976 for what became a long, diverse solo career. He released four solo albums, two live sets, and in the '80s hit the mainstream with his bluesy alter ego Buster Poindexter.. Accompanied by the Uptown Horns, he headed "SNL's" house band.

As Poindexter, Johansen enjoyed his first true hit, the 1987 single "Hot Hot Hot." While it only made it to no. 45 on the Billboard Hot 100 (and no. 11 on the trade publication's Hot Dance Club Play chart), it became a party staple far more recognizable today than many other songs on the charts at the time.

In 2023, Johansen appeared in Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi's "Personality Crisis: One Night Only," speaking about how "Hot Hot Hot," a campy lark, had come to haunt him. In short, he hated it.

He retired Poindexter and launched David Johansen and the Harry Smiths, releasing albums in 2000 and 2002.

In 2004, the surviving New York Dolls — Johansen, Sylvain Sylvain and Arthur Kane — reunited for two London gigs. Shortly thereafter, Kane died of undiagnosed leukemia. Johansen and Sylvain released three more Dolls albums, in 2006, 2009, and 2011.

With Sylvain's 2021 death, Johansen had been the final survivor of the band.

Johansen also enjoyed acting in films and on TV, including playing the Ghost of Christmas Past in the Bill Murray comedy "Scrooged" (1988).

Johansen was wed to and divorced from Cyrinda Foxe, an actress, model, and publicist who is the mother of Mia Tyler; and portraitist Kate Simon.

He is survived by his wife, a visual artist with whom he collaborated, his stepdaughter, and five siblings.