Joey Ramone is to be the subject of a new children’s book.
The 51-page picture book, Gabba Gabba We Accept You: The Wondrous Tale Of Joey Ramone tells the story of the late Ramones frontman, who passed away in 2001 after battling cancer.
According to a synopsis, it tells “the story of a misfit kid who grew up to be a punk rock hero. The challenging times that Jeffrey Ross Hyman endured before becoming Joey Ramone speak to young folks navigating the complexities of growing up, via teachable punk stuff: being your own person with your own compass, embracing uniqueness, etc.
“Jay Ruttenberg & Lucinda Schreiber light the tale righteously with plain-spoken language, lyrical graphic design and colourful illustrations, finding unexpected depths on every page.”
Out 6/27, Gabba Gabba We Accept You is a children’s picture book by Jay Ruttenberg and Lucinda Schreiber that tells the story of a misfit kid who became a punk rock hero – that is, Joey Ramone – to affirm everyone has a place in the world.
Pre-order now: https://t.co/eiyUnWPo0w pic.twitter.com/V43YVWpkyn
— 𝕯𝖗𝖆𝖌 𝕮𝖎𝖙𝖞 (@dragcityrecords) March 20, 2025
It will be released on June 27 via the record label Drag City and can be pre-ordered here.
Author Ruttenberg added via Consequence: “My daughter just turned 11, so I’ve spent recent years in children’s book land. I think I’ve read her 97 books about Abraham Lincoln and 12,984 about Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
“It occurred to me that a lot of the life lessons I’ve been trying to teach her weren’t learned through my family or school, but through punk stuff: the importance of being your own person, following your own radar instead of a group’s, embracing uniqueness, etc. The Ramones, and in particular Joey, seemed like the perfect embodiment of that.”
Meanwhile, Joey Ramone was set to be the subject of a Netflix documentary, I Slept With Joey Ramone, starring Pete Davidson.
But a legal battle ensued with Johnny Ramone’s estate suing Joey Ramone’s brother Mickey Leigh over the biopic.
It was claimed that Leigh – real name Mitchel Hyman – “covertly developed an unapproved and unauthorised Ramones-based biopic” based on his “one-sided recitation of the history of the Ramones”.
He counter-sued Johnny Ramone’s widow Linda Cummings-Ramone, calling her attempts to shut down the biopic as “baseless and flimsy”.
Hyman also later filed a lawsuit against her for allegedly “exploiting” the Ramones’ legacy.
Elsewhere, earlier this month it was reported that Sonic Youth‘s Thurston Moore and Napalm Death are teaming up for a Ramones cover.
The collaboration – which is believed to have already been recorded – will be part of Magnetic Eye Records’ upcoming ‘Ramones Redux’ and ‘Best Of Ramones Redux’ compilation tribute albums that are due for release sometime in “early June”.
The ‘Ramones Redux’ will see select acts cover the entirely of the band’s iconic 1976 self-titled album, while ‘Best Of Ramones Redux’ will be a tribute compilation of the band’s best career-spanning hits.
English (US) · 