Who is David Johansen? Everything to know about the former New York Dolls frontman as daughter launches fundraiser for his cancer battle

Leah Hennessey, the daughter of the former New York Dolls frontman David Johansen, recently launched a fundraiser for his cancer battle and brain tumor. His condition deteriorated after he broke his back twice in November 2024 after a severe fall down a flight of stairs.

Hence, his fall and surgery are also the reasons for the fundraising campaign. Hennessey launched the crowdsourcing campaign to help pay for his costly medical treatment and continuing care.

David Johansen is an American singer, songwriter, and actor most renowned for being the lead singer of the New York Dolls, a groundbreaking proto-punk band. He is also well-known for portraying the Ghost of Christmas Past in Scrooged (1988) and for working under the pen name Buster Poindexter.

Through Brooklyn Vegan, Johansen gave a sincere remark reflecting on the difficult journey on February 11, 2025:

“We’ve been living with my illness for a long time... But this fall after Thanksgiving took things to a whole new level of debilitation. This is the worst pain I’ve ever experienced in my life. I’ve never been one to ask for help, but this is an emergency. Thank you for your kindness and support.”

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Singer David Johansen got famous for his rock & roll music

His daughter started a fundraiser (Image via Getty Images)

David Johansen started his career as the lead vocalist of the small Staten Island band the Vagabond Missionaries in the late 1960s. Later, in the early 1970s, he was the singer/songwriter for the proto-punk group, the New York Dolls.

As a teenager, he began singing in rock and roll dance bands, founding the New York Dolls and joining Charles Ludlum's Ridiculous Theater. The Dolls notably produced two classic Rock & Roll records: Too Much Too Soon (1974) and the self-titled New York Dolls (1973).

Johansen and guitarist Johnny Thunders wrote the majority of the songs. The Dolls did not succeed financially, except for occasional positive reviews from critics. Then, in the middle of the 1970s, the band broke up.

Following that, Johansen started a solo career. David then founded the David Johansen Group at this time, which went on to record six albums and tour with classics like Funky but Chic over the next 10 years.

Driven by his love of blues and obscure American folk music, he founded The Harry Smiths and performed Howlin' Wolf songs alongside Hubert Sumlin and Levon Helm on a global tour. On the other hand, his first two solo albums, David Johansen and In Style, also included several timeless original songs.

Additionally, under the stage name Buster Poindexter, he started performing jump blues, calypso, and rock & roll. Due to the success of these performances, Buster Poindexter went on to tour with four critically acclaimed CDs.

In August 1978, his self-titled album reached its highest position in Australia at number 91. To highlight his writing, he released Here Comes the Night and Sweet Revenge, which also included a cameo by Big Jay McNeely, a jazz saxophonist.

Additionally, the documentary Personality Crisis: One Night Only, directed by Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi, focused on David. It documents an evening of David's music and stories and provides background information on the chaotic fabric of the artist's life.

David is also known for his roles in a few well-known movies, such as the racetrack comedy Let it Ride and the Christmas classic Scrooged. He still hosts The Mansion of Fun, a weekly radio program on Sirius XM. This past summer, David's paintings were displayed at the Elliot Templeton Fine Arts gallery in New York.

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On the other hand, according to the fundraising page Sweet Relief, Johansen has been receiving intensive cancer therapy for almost ten years. This happened two years after David Johansen disclosed that he had a brain tumor and stage 4 cancer.