No argument here, The Ramones were one of THE great rock 'n' roll bands of all time and the first genuine punk band, though one more than a little touched by tragedy, with all three of the band's founding members prematurely dead just eight years after the band broke up in 1996.

In 1974, four kids from Queens, New York joined together to form a band that would significantly change the face of rock music. That band was The Ramones, an outfit that came to be regarded as the first ever punk rock group. Three decades later, on 12th September 2004, just two-and-a-half days before legendary punk guitarist Johnny Ramone's tragic and untimely death from prostate cancer, a group of musicians and friends of the band staged a benefit concert to celebrate The Ramones' 30th Anniversary and to raise money for cancer research. The show was documented by director Mandy Stein (daughter of Sire Records founder Seymour Stein and former Ramones manager Linda Stein) for her film Too Tough To Die: A Tribute to Johnny Ramone.

Filmed at the Avalon theatre in Hollywood and hosted by Rob Zombie, Too Tough To Die is a touching tribute to the man who was voted 16th greatest guitarist of all time by Rolling Stone magazine, and features interviews with and blazing live performances of a host of classic Ramones songs by many of Johnny Ramone's closest friends and peers. Interviewees include Johnny's wife Linda, Tommy Ramone, Blondie's Debbie Harry and Chris Stein, Lisa Marie Presley, artist Arturo Vega, Anthony Kiedis and Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore and many others.

Among the live acts featured are the Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Dickies and X, Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, Rancid's Tim Armstrong and Bad Religion's Brett Gurewitz, Queens Of The Stone Age's Josh Homme, Joan Jett, Pete Yorn, and Dicky Barrett and Lawrence Katz from the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. But perhaps the highlight of the entire show is an incendiary run through of three killer Ramones tunes – Judy Is A Punk; Commando; Blitzkrieg Bop – by a punk 'supergroup' consisting of Marky Ramone, CJ Ramone, producer Daniel Rey, Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones and former Black Flag frontman Henry Rollins.

In addition to the unforgettable concert, Too Tough To Die: A Tribute to Johnny Ramone also includes moving footage filmed at Johnny Ramone's subsequent memorial service featuring eulogies by Nicolas Cage, Eddie Vedder, John Frusciante and CJ Ramone.

Too Tough To Die: A Tribute to Johnny Ramone will be released on DVD by Anchor Bay Entertainment on 3rd November 2008 at the RRP of £15.99. No details on aspect ratio or extras yet.