He began playing in hard rock bands in the New York City area, notably Dust and Estus.

In late 1972, following the death of the New York Dolls' original drummer Billy Murcia, Bell was the only seriously considered alternative to the eventually chosen Jerry Nolan.

"When Billy died, I went down to the loft where the Dolls were auditioning… I could do different time signatures, different accents, and I basically overplayed it – put in all these drum fills that weren't necessary.

In the mid-1970s, Bell joined Wayne County & The Backstreet Boys, then moved onto Richard Hell and the Voidoids and played on their first album, Blank Generation.

He starred in the movie Rock 'n' Roll High School, recorded the anthem, "I Wanna be Sedated", and worked with producer Phil Spector.

Joey told talk show host Joe Franklin that Marky was his favorite drummer along with Keith Moon.

On April 22, 2008, Marky Ramone appeared on a new CD in Canada playing drums with the Canadian punk band Teenage Head.

The channel features previously aired recordings of Marky Ramone's 1st Wave Blitzkrieg.