David Johansen, Who Fronted the New York Dolls and More, Dies at 75

David Johansen, the singer and songwriter who was at the vanguard of glam rock and punk as the frontman of the New York Dolls, died yesterday at his home on Staten Island.He was 75.His death was confirmed by his stepdaughter, Leah Hennessey.Mr.

Johansen revealed last month that he was suffering from Stage 4 cancer, a brain tumor and a broken back.He announced a fund-raising campaign through the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund to assist with his medical bills, saying, “I’ve never been one to ask for help, but this is an emergency.”Mr.

Johansen was prolific in multiple genres, from blues to calypso, and achieved his greatest commercial success in the late 1980s and early ’90s with his pompadoured lounge-lizard alter ego, Buster Poindexter.But his 1970s heyday with the New York Dolls, a band of lipstick-smeared men in love with trashy riffs and tough women, had the most cultural impact, inspiring numerous punk, heavy metal and alternative musicians.One of those musicians was the singer-songwriter Morrissey of the Smiths, who first witnessed the band as a 13-year-old living in Manchester, England.

It was 1973, and the BBC was broadcasting a Dolls show.As the young Morrissey watched the Dolls flail through “Jet Boy,” he had what he called his “first real emotional experience,” according to Nina Antonia’s 1998 book, “The New York Dolls: Too Much Too Soon.” Morrissey soon became the president of the band’s British fan club.The New York Dolls were notorious for transgressive behavior; they were especially notorious for cross-dressing.

“Before going onstage, the Dolls pass around a Max Factor lipstick the way some bands pass around a joint,” Ed McCormack wrote in Rolling Stone in 1972.“We used to wear some really outrageous clothes,” Mr.Johansen said in the prologue to the 1987 music video for Buster Poindexter’s hit song “Hot Hot Hot.” “These heavy mental bands in L.A.

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