David Johansen, New York Dolls Frontman, Dies at 75

David Johansen, the frontman and last surviving member of proto-punk band New York Dolls, who went on to act in films such as "Scrooged," has died.

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David Johansen, the frontman and last surviving member of proto-punk band New York Dolls, who went on to become a lounge singer under the name Buster Poindexter and act in films such as “Scrooged,” has died. His daughter Leah Hennessey confirmed that he died Friday at home in New York. He was 75.

In February 2025, Johansen announced he was suffering from stage four cancer, a brain tumor and a broken back. He was diagnosed in 2020 and was not able to perform for the final years of his life.

The Staten Island native started out singing with a local band, the Vagabond Missionaries, in the 1960s. He joined the nascent New York Dolls in 1971, and their first performance came at a Christmas Eve concert at a homeless shelter. Their first album, titled “New York Dolls” and produced by Todd Rundgren, was released in 1973 and featured the members in drag, reflecting the gender-bending style of the time of rockers like David Bowie.

The album’s grungy hard rock-meets glam pop sound on songs like “Personality Crisis” reflected the theme of alienated youth and served as a template for bands like The Ramones. But though their albums were critically acclaimed, they didn’t sell well, and the Dolls became known as much for some members’ drug addiction and wild antics as for their musicianship.

Popular on Variety The New York Dolls in 1972, including Jerry Nolan, standing left, Johnny Thunders, Killer Kane and Sylvain Sylvain. Seated: singer David Johansen. Getty Images

The New York Dolls broke up in 1976 and Johansen went on to perform and release albums as a solo act, often playing New York Dolls songs and performing with fellow Dolls member Sylvain Sylvain. Johansen opened for The Who on an East Coast tour in 1982.

He re-styled himself as lounge singer Buster Poindexter in the late 1980s, as part of a wave of jazzy sounds and retro performers. As Poindexter he performed with the “Saturday Night Live” band and had a hit with the song “Hot Hot Hot.”

Johansen also worked in film and television, playing the Ghost of Christmas Past in 1988’s “Scrooged” opposite Bill Murray. He co-starred in the movie “Car 54, Where Are You?” and appeared in films including “Let it Ride” and “Mr. Nanny.” He also had a part in the HBO series “Oz.”

The New York Dolls reunited in 2004 with Johansen, Sylvain and Arthur Kane, releasing three albums and touring.

For several years, Johansen hosted the eclectically-programmed “David Johansen’s Mansion of Fun” on Sirius Radio. In 2023, Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi directed “Personality Crisis: One Night Only,” a Showtime documentary.

Survivors include his wife, Mara Hennessey and his daughter.

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