I first read about it on Jari-Pekkas pages when Johnny Ramone played I Wanna Be Well with Red Hot Chili Peppers at the Hollywood Palladium in California on November 15th 2003 at a benefit show for the Warsaw Center for Prostate Cancer Research - apparently then he had it but had recovered

Then I heard that The Red Hot Chilli Peppers phoned Johnny up from the gig in Edinburgh on the 13th of June 2004 to wish Johnny well as he was very sick

A couple of days later I read this report by Colin Devenish

Ramones guitarist Johnny Ramone is in a Los Angeles hospital battling prostate cancer, according to his longtime bandmate, drummer Marky Ramone. "Johnny's been a champ in confronting this, but at this point I think the chances are slim," says Marky, who joined the Ramones in 1977 when Tommy Ramone left the band.

"John never smoked cigarettes, he wasn't a heavy drinker and he was always into his health," Marky continues. "It just proves when cancer seeks a body to penetrate, it doesn't matter how healthy you are or how unhealthy you are. It just seeps in and there's nothing you can do."

The fifty-five-year-old guitarist, born John Cummings, first learned of his condition four years ago and has undergone extensive chemotherapy.

"I've been getting so much email from people and from papers and magazines wanting to know what was up I had to take it upon myself to say something, because eventually John won't be in any condition to say or do anything," Marky says. "He went through many chemotherapy treatments. Some of it worked better than others. At this point [the cancer] has started to go into other areas of the body."

Widely acknowledged as the world's first punk band, the Ramones have lost two members in the last three years, with singer Joey Ramone's death in 2001 of lymphatic cancer and bassist Dee Dee Ramone's death from a drug overdose the following year.

Johnny Ramone retired from music following the Ramones' final tour in 1996, and, after more than two decades spent on the road, the Ramones leader felt little temptation to continue playing.

"I was ninety-nine percent sure I was not going to come back and play," Johnny told Rolling Stone in 2001. "I was always open, but I didn't want to go back on tour under any circumstances. If they could have come up with an offer that I couldn't refuse for one week of jobs, somewhere in the world, I would have thought about it."

Despite a poor prognosis, Johnny remains upbeat. "He seemed in good spirits the last time I saw him," says Marky. "He was talking about the positive things the Ramones accomplished: getting inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame [in 2002], how our music is being accepted at this point. It put a smile on his face. Knowing John, he'll fight this horrible disease to the end. Everybody is wishing the best and hoping the best. We'll stand by him."

This got blown up a bit and there was news worldwide that Johnny was dying - typical lazy journalism, they didn’t double check their reports and mostly just ripped it off from rolling stone without giving credit

One person who did check his sources is Kurt Loder - here's what he wrote at www.mtv.com

Johnny Ramone is not dying, according to his doctor.

The Ramones guitarist, who has been living with prostate cancer for the past several years, was recently admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles with what his physician, Dr. David Agus, told MTV News was a "complication from the cancer. But he got through it, and he's now on a new, experimental therapy. He's fighting courageously, and I think he will be going home in the near term."

Johnny's admission to Cedars-Sinai set off a nationwide maybe worldwide media death watch. He was said to be in an intensive-care unit, and very near the end. Characteristically, the 55-year-old guitarist, a stubbornly private man, refused to issue a corrective press statement. His wife, Linda, however, was appalled by the funereal headlines, and authorized Dr. Agus to explain Johnny's condition.

"He's not dying," Linda said on Wednesday afternoon (June 16). "He was okay for years, and he's fine now. He's in the hospital, but he's not in ICU. And I think he may be leaving by tomorrow."

Then I got an email from Marky via Lynne Cameron saying this