Tommy Ramone, the founding drummer of the Ramones and the last living member of the band's original lineup, died Friday after a long fight with bile duct cancer, according to the Associated Press. The band also acknowledged his death on its official Facebook page. He was 65.The Ramones, founded in 1974 in Queens, New York, are generally considered to be the first punk band, and their debut album, Ramones, released in 1976, is widely seen as one of the most influential albums in the history of rock, launching a revolution in music that prized simplicity, directness, and honesty over more contrived or elaborately composed pop and rock contemporaries. Their legacy was slow to be recognized, but The Ramones were ultimately inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.Tommy Ramone, born Thomas Erdelyi in Budapest, Hungary, was the band's drummer from 1974 to 1978 and played on the band's first three albums. In later years he went on to play the role of producer, stepping behind the boards for two later Ramones albums and also producing The Replacements' Tim. As one of the founding fathers of one of the most exciting and influential movements in modern music, he will be missed."It wasn't just music in The Ramones: it was an idea," Tommy said of the band in 1978, according to the band's Facebook. "It was bringing back a whole feel that was missing in rock music – it was a whole push outwards to say something new and different. Originally it was just an artistic type of thing; finally I felt it was something that was good enough for everybody."