Editing Johnny Thunders (section)

==Death==
Rumors surround Thunders's death at the Inn on St. Peter hotel (formerly known as St. Peter Guest House) in [[New Orleans]], Louisiana, on April 23, 1991.<ref name="Larkin"/><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/25/obituaries/johnny-thunders-38-hard-rock-guitarist.html|title=Johnny Thunders, 38, Hard Rock Guitarist|newspaper=New York Times|date=April 25, 1991}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-04-28-mn-1416-story.html|title=Johnny Thunders; Leader of 'Glitter Rock|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=April 28, 1991}}</ref>

Thunders apparently died of drug-related causes, but it has been speculated that it was the result of [[wikt:foul play|foul play]].  According to his autobiography ''Lobotomy: Surviving The Ramones'', [[Dee Dee Ramone]] took a call in New York City the next day from Stevie Klasson, Thunders' rhythm guitar player. Dee Dee said, "They told me that Johnny had gotten mixed up with some bastards&nbsp;... who ripped him off for his [[methadone]] supply. They had given him [[LSD]] and then murdered him. He had gotten a pretty large supply of methadone in England, so he could travel and stay away from those creeps – the drug dealers, Thunders imitators, and losers like that."<ref>{{cite book|first=Dee Dee|last=Ramone|author-link=Dee Dee Ramone|date=2000|title=Lobotomy: Surviving The Ramones|pages=232–33|publisher=Thunder's Mouth Press|location=New York City|ISBN=1-56025-252-9}}</ref>

Singer [[Willy DeVille]], who lived next door to the hotel in which Thunders died, described his death this way:

{{blockquote|I don't know how the word got out that I lived next door, but all of a sudden the phone started ringing and ringing. ''Rolling Stone'' was calling, the ''Village Voice'' called, his family called, and then his guitar player called. I felt bad for all of them. It was a tragic end, and I mean, he went out in a blaze of glory, ha ha ha, so I thought I might as well make it look real good, you know, out of respect, so I just told everybody that when Johnny died he was laying down on the floor with his guitar in his hands. I made that up.  When he came out of the St. Peter Guest House, [[rigor mortis]] had set in to such an extent that his body was in a U shape. When you're laying on the floor in a fetal position, doubled over – well, when the body bag came out, it was in a U.  It was pretty awful.<ref>[http://elvispelvis.com/heroin.html]{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>}}

There is conflicting information about the New Orleans coroner's report.

An article in the ''[[Orlando Sentinel]]'' states: "[He] died of an overdose of [[cocaine]] and [[methadone]], according to the coroner's office in New Orleans. Chief investigator John Gagliano said tests completed last week found substantial amounts of both drugs."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1991-06-11-9106110457-story.html|title=AUTOPSY SHOWS THUNDERS DIED OF DOUBLE OVERDOSE|newspaper=[[The Orlando Sentinel]]|date=June 11, 1991|access-date=January 13, 2021}}</ref>

However, other sources state that an autopsy was conducted by the New Orleans coroner, but served only to compound the mystery.<ref name="Larkin"/> According to Thunders's biographer [[Nina Antonia]] as posted on the [[Jungle Records]] website, the level of drugs found in his system was not fatal.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jungle-records.demon.co.uk/bands/johnnyt_intro.htm|title=Jungle Records – Nina Antonia's introduction to her update of the official biography of Johnny Thunders, ''Johnny Thunders – In Cold Blood''|publisher=Jungle-records.demon.co.uk|access-date=1 May 2010|archive-date=February 27, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070227221819/http://www.jungle-records.demon.co.uk/bands/johnnyt_intro.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> According to the book ''Rock Bottom: Dark Moments in Music Babylon'' by [[Pamela Des Barres]], who interviewed Thunders's sister, Mariann Bracken, the autopsy confirmed evidence of advanced [[leukemia]], which would explain the decline in Thunders's appearance in the final year of his life.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thunders.ca/print/rb.htm|title=Rock Bottom by Pamela Des Barres|publisher=Thunders.ca|date=September 6, 1999|access-date=1 May 2010}}</ref>

In a 1994 ''[[Melody Maker]]'' interview, Thunders's manager Mick Webster described the family's efforts to get New Orleans police to investigate the matter further: "We keep asking the New Orleans police to re-investigate, but they haven't been particularly friendly. They seemed to think that this was just another [[Substance dependence|junkie]] who had wandered into town and died. They simply weren't interested."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pushstuff.co.uk/mminfofreakos/johnnythunders261194.html|title=Storm Clouds|work=[[Melody Maker]]|date=November 26, 1994|access-date=27 October 2011}}</ref>

Thunders was survived by his wife Julie Jourden and four children.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE7DF133CF936A15757C0A967958260|title=Johnny Thunders, 40, Hard Rock Guitarist|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=April 25, 1991|access-date=1 May 2010}}</ref>