Tommy Ramone, one of the original members of the seminal punk act The Ramones, was born Tamás Erdélyi today in Budapest in 1949. When Tommy was 7 years old he and his family fled to Austria to escape the Russian invasion of Hungary. The following year the family came to New York City, eventually settling Queens.

When Tommy was in high school he played in a band with Johnny Ramone. The band broke up and Tommy got a job in a record studio. The Ramones were starting to form in 1974 and Tommy was going to be the band's manager.

Dee Dee Ramone was the original singer but he couldn't play bass and sing at the same time. Joey Ramone became the singer but he couldn't play drums and sing at the same time. The band auditioned drummers with Tommy often sitting in and showing the prospective drummers the sound that the band was looking for. They couldn't find a suitable drummer so Tommy took the job. You can find much more information on the formation of the band here:

http://www.elevenwarriors.com/forum/anything-else/2016/04/69757/joey-ram...

http://www.elevenwarriors.com/forum/anything-else/2015/10/61107/the-ramo...

Tommy was only in the band from 1974-1978, playing on and co-producing the band's first three studio albums, "Ramones", "Leave Home", "Rocket to Russia" and the live album "It's Alive". He wrote one of the band's most famous songs, "Blitzkrieg Bop", and was a major contributor in the band's early songwriting.

Tommy grew tired of the constant touring and wanted to remain in the band by doing studio work and letting another drummer tour. This idea was rejected and Tommy was replaced by Marky Ramone. Tommy would produce two additional albums for the band and he went on to form the bluegrass duo Uncle Monk. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with the Ramones in 2002, the first year they were eligible. Tommy died from bile duct cancer in 2014.