Unreleased demos collection from The Ramones' Joey Ramone to come out in May

'Ya Know?' features contributions from Joan Jett, Steven Van Zandt and Richie Ramone

Photo: PA

A new collection of demos by the late Joey Ramone, written for seminal punk band the Ramones and also for his solo project are set to be released later this year.

'Ya Know?' will feature 17 tracks, including 'Rock & Roll Is the Answer', 'New York City' and 'Waiting for That Railroad', reports Rolling Stone.

The album will be released on May 17 in the US and follows 2002's 'Don't Worry About Me, Joey', Joey Ramone's first posthumous collection of material. Ramone passed away in 2001 from lymphoma. The songs that make up the new album were recorded by Ramone as demos for the Ramones – who split in 1996 – and well as for solo material.

New overdubs on the album have been provided by Joan Jett, Steven Van Zandt from Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, Richie Ramone, and members of Cheap Trick. "We got friends who were really friends of Joey," says album producer Ed Stasium of the overdubs, which were recorded in New York in 2010.