One of the legends of the punk rock era, Joey Ramone, has died of lymphatic cancer in a New York hospital at the age of 49.

Along with three other musicians of equally basic technical skills, the former Jeffrey Hyman adopted the name Ramone and helped to change the course of musical history.

In 1974, the Ramones began more than 20 years of rebellion against corporate rock.

They created music that was fast and furious, a three-chord thrash that influenced a generation of musicians ranging from 1970s British punk icons The Clash to 1990s garage-rock bands like Green Day.

Born in 1951 in the Queens area of New York, Hyman gathered together a group of local "losers" with limited musical ability.

'Daddy punk group'

Their music, much of which reflected their twisted teen years, spanned three decades.

Clash lead singer Joe Strummer recently described them as "the daddy punk group of all time".

They never made it into the US Top 40, but had several hits in the UK, including their second album Ramones Leave Home and the song Sheena is a Punk Rocker.

Their most bizarre project was a collaboration in 1980 with the producer Phil Spector, which included Joey singing a drawled version of the classic Baby I Love You.

The Ramones broke up in 1996.