New York Dolls frontman David Johansen is battling stage 4 cancer.
The 74-year-old musician – who also found fame with his alter-ego Buster Poindexter and starred as the Ghost of Christmas Past in ‘Scrooged’ alongside Bill Murray – has been secretly battling the illness for 10 years
and is now facing severe health and financial difficulties, his daughter Leah Hennessy has revealed.
Leah, 34, shared the news in an Instagram post on Monday (10.02.25) while announcing a fundraising campaign in partnership with the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund, which supports artists facing medical challenges.
She said online: “David is a legend but he’s also my very real, very sick dad.”
According to Leah, her rocker dad has been in intensive treatment for stage 4 cancer for nearly a decade.
She added in a statement on the Sweet Relief charity site: “Five years ago, it progressed to a brain tumour. There have been complications ever since.
“He’s never made his diagnosis public, as he and my mother, Mara, are generally very private people, but we feel compelled to share this now due to the increasingly severe financial burden our family is facing.”
Leah added her father suffered a serious fall last year, saying: “The day after Thanksgiving, David fell down the stairs and broke his back in two places.”
He underwent surgery, and Leah added: “David has been bedridden and incapacitated. Due to the trauma, David’s illness has progressed exponentially, and my mother is caring for him around the clock.”
In a statement published by Rolling Stone, David said: “We’ve been living with my illness for a long time, still having fun, seeing friends and family, carrying on, but this tumble the day after Thanksgiving really brought us to a whole new level of debilitation.
“This is the worst pain I’ve ever experienced in my entire life. I’ve never been one to ask for help, but this is an emergency. Thank you.”
The fundraising campaign aims to cover full-time nursing care, physical therapy, and daily living expenses.
Leah said: “With professional specialised care, we are hopeful that David can regain some mobility and independence.
“I know how dire so many of our situations are right now, and how much fundraising literally everyone is doing.
“But if you love David or any of the magic he’s brought into the world, please just take a minute to read this or share it. “Thank you guys as always.”
