John Anthony Genzale (July 15, 1952 – April 23, 1991), known professionally as Johnny Thunders, was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter.

In late 1969, he got a job as a sales clerk at D'Naz leather shop, on Bleecker Street in the West Village, and started trying to put a band together.

He and his girlfriend, Janis Cafasso, went to see The Rolling Stones at Madison Square Garden in November 1969, and they appear in the Maysles brothers' film Gimme Shelter.

Thunders formed The Heartbreakers with former New York Dolls drummer Jerry Nolan and former Television bassist Richard Hell.

Displeased with the production, the band members individually remixed the record, a competition which culminated in drummer Jerry Nolan quitting in November 1977.

[1] The drug-fuelled recording sessions featured a core band of Thunders, bassist Phil Lynott, drummer Paul Cook and guitarist Steve Jones, with guest appearances from Chrissie Hynde, Steve Marriott, Walter Lure, Billy Rath and Peter Perrett.

[1] The CD version of the album contains four bonus tracks, including the single "Dead or Alive" and a cover of the early Marc Bolan song "The Wizard".

Around this time Thunders played a small number of gigs at London's The Speakeasy Club with a line up including Cook and Jones, Henri Paul on bass and Judy Nylon and Patti Palladin (Snatch) as back up vocalists.

In late 1979, Thunders moved to Detroit with his wife Julie and began performing in a band called Gang War.

The album, produced by Palladin, featured a wide assortment of musicians to recreate the 1950s and 1960s sound of the originals, including Alexander Balanescu on violin, Bob Andrews on piano, The Only Ones John Perry and others on guitar, and a horn section.

[1] From August 1988 until his death in April 1991, Thunders performed in The Oddballs, with Jamie Heath (saxophone), Alison Gordy (vocals), Chris Musto (drums), Stevie Klasson (guitar) and Jill Wisoff (bass).

From April–May 1990, Thunders performed an acoustic tour of the UK and Ireland joining up occasionally with John, Sam and Peter of The Golden Horde, whom he had met and played with previously in 1984 at the TV Club, and were concurrently on tour (of the UK and Ireland) at that time also, for full-band electric performances and TV appearances.

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.

[1] 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.

"[13] Thunders was survived by his wife Julie Jourden and four children: sons John, Vito, and Dino, and daughter Jamie Genzale by Susanne Blomqvist.