Rock and Roll and drugs have been married since the rock star lifestyle was invented. Smashed hotel rooms, erratic performances, and an onslaught of substance abuse is just another day for some of the world’s most famous musicians. But for all of those who have kept their habits in check or kicked them completely, you will find another who fell prey to their vices. Below, I outline five of the most prominent falls from grace due to nasty drug habits. And yes, alcohol is a drug, and I will treat it as such for the purposes of this article [check out the Song of the Day].
Kurt Cobain – Nirvana
Cobain is the most modern musician on the list and also has one of the saddest stories of them all. Contrary to popular belief, Cobain was not depressed his entire life. He describes his childhood as the ideal situation for any kid, with loving parents and a good home. It was when he was about 9 that his parents divorced and he developed some of the mental struggles that ailed him his whole life. After Nirvana had hit it big, Cobain was not secretive about his distaste for stardom. He felt that he couldn’t be himself and just live his life. On one particular occasion Cobain recalls a fan coming up to him in a club and asking why he always looked so mad. The singer responded, “I’m not always mad. In fact I was in a perfectly good mood until came up here you asshole”. It was the actions of the public that really got to him. Like a number of celebrities, Cobain had problems coping with his lack of privacy, and drugs were his way of dealing with the pain. Cobain was an on and off heroin user, and had struggled with rehab and kicking the habit for good.
Cobain's angry face
The last few weeks of his life are shrouded in mystery as each person seems to have their own account for what happened, but here are some of the facts. Cobain had bought a shotgun and shells to go with it just weeks before killing himself. This was discovered by his driver when Cobain had forgotten to take the gun and ammo out of his bag before leaving for the airport, forcing him to leave the gun in the car. Cobain stressed it was important for the driver to take care of the firearm for him, suggesting that he had been planning his suicide for some time. Everything came to a head on April 5th, 1994. Cobain injected himself with a large amount of heroin, wrote a suicide letter, and shot himself in the head. There has been a lot of controversy about his death and many suggest that his crackwhore wife Courtney Love killed him. Personally, I don’t buy it; the guy had been having issues for quite some time so it’s not all that surprising of an event. The “smoking gun” evidence that he was murdered is the fact that had apparently ingested too much heroin to even be able to move, let alone kill himself. I think people overlook the tolerance that a drug user can build up. If you gave me three beers when I was 13, you would have seen me prancing around in a drunken stupor, but now that I have built up a tolerance, it really wouldn’t do that much for me. The same goes for Cobain and his extensive heroin use. Though the facts of his death will probably never be resolved, we can all agree that is was a shame to see Cobain etch his name into the “27 Club” [see also Five Bands You Need To Hear, But Never Have].
Jimi Hendrix – The Jimi Hendrix Experience / Band Of Gypsys
Hendrix is considered the greatest guitarist of all time by just about everyone ever, and for good reason. Even if you don’t like his music, you have to have a respect for what this guy could do with a guitar; it was simply stunning. One of the shining moments of his career came from Woodstock 1969 when Hendrix did his rendition of the National Anthem that has now been emulated by artists all of the world. Not only was he one of the greatest rockers of all time, but he was a nice guy as well. Interviews often show a well-mannered, quiet guy who just had a passion for music. You certainly would never guess that the guy had been a Paratrooper prior to starting his music career. But with all of the stardom came the drug use. Hendrix was famously known for his use of LSD and marijuana, but these were not the causes of his death, especially not the latter. Though the facts are hazy, most accounts peg alcohol as the culprit for Jimi’s death
The devastating result of a Marijuana overdose
On September 18th, 1970, Hendrix was picked up by his current girlfriend, Monika Dannemann, and driven back to her flat. He had been drinking red wine all night and is rumored to have taken 9 sleeping tablets (with the recommended dosage being half a pill) before going to bed. Hendrix asphyxiated on his own vomit sometime in the wee hours of the morning and had been dead for some time when the ambulance has arrived. There are rumors that his girlfriend had some sort of contribution to his death, or did not take proper care when she found out he was in trouble. Dannemann would later commit suicide in 1996 after being found guilty of contempt of court. There are tons of colorful stories about Hendrix’s passing, but like Cobain’s death, we will probably never know the exact details of what happened. What we do know is that Hendrix was a visionary and one of the most important musicians of all time. But sadly, he is yet another member of the “27 Club” [see also My Top 5 Albums].
Jim Morrison – The Doors
Not long after Hendrix died, Morrison added his name to the “27 Club” with an untimely death brought on by drug use. Morrison’s drug abuse is perhaps the best documented of any of these five men, mostly because it spilled onto the stage on many occasions. Morrison would often perform extremely drunk, which was obviously causing issues among the members of the band. And what’s more, when Morrison would dial up the stage antics, the crowd would cheer him on and encourage more reckless behavior from their favorite frontman. Morrison was notorious for showing up to concerts extremely late and rarely in a sober state. One of my favorite stories transpired when the band took the stage while waiting for Morrison to finish drinking. They reportedly jammed out on the intro of “Break On Through” for somewhere between 45 minutes and an hour before a hammered Morrison stumbled onto the stage to finally begin the song. His heavy drinking and abuse of other substances would eventually lead to his death.
It's fine, he's just grabbing a power nap before the encore
His passing is yet another scenario with major controversy surrounding it. The problem here was that Morrison died in Paris, where legislation does not require an autopsy if there is no suspicion of foul play. It was treated as an overdose and an autopsy was never performed. From here, the story becomes mostly speculative, but it appears that a number of sources agree on a few key facts. Morrison had been using heroin and began to cough and feel sick the night of his death. He then went to take a bath where he was found dead the next morning. Some believe it was a hemorrhage from an overdose the killed him, while others think it was asphyxiation of vomit that nixed Morrison. Interestingly enough, Morrison’s girlfriend, who was with him when he died, was killed by a heroin overdose three years later, when she was 27 [see also Three Bands You Didn’t Know Almost Broke Up].
Syd Barrett – Pink Floyd
Syd was one of the founding members of Pink Floyd and was thought of as a musical mastermind in his heyday. Personally, I don’t see it; had the band not replaced him with David Gilmour I think the Floyd would have turned out very differently, but that’s just me. One cannot pinpoint a singular addiction that ruined Barrett, but it is generally agreed that his rampant use of psychedelics, notably LSD, was the main culprit of his downfall. This guy was an acid monster. There are stories of him soaking his guitar strings in the drug so he could trip out while he played, not to mention all of the times that he would simply take it for recreation. Unfortunately, it seems like Barrett surrounded himself with bad people, who only encouraged his demise. Though unconfirmed, there are rumors that his flatmates would lock him in a cupboard during bad trips and that they were actually the ones responsible for soaking his guitar strings, causing him to unexpectedly trip. Whatever the case may be, Barrett went downhill fast.
Into the cupboard you go!
Prior to his out of control drug habit, Pink Floyd had been generating a significant buzz. But Barrett’s bizarre on stage behavior, like screaming at the crowd while playing one chord for the entirety of one concert, is what eventually got him replaced in the band by David Gilmour. By the time Barrett was kicked out of Pink Floyd, he was seemingly beyond repair. During a vacation to Spain, Barrett slept in a graveyard because he felt more comfortable there than at his hotel. He would show up at future Floyd studio sessions with a string-less guitar insisting that he should play on a track because he could make beautiful sounds. The band lost all contact with him until he showed up many years later during the sessions for Wish You Were Here. He had put on a fair amount of weight, shaved his hair, and barely resembled his old self. It took the band some time, but they finally recognized him and tried to engage in conversation, that failed. Syd was talking nonsense, answering questions about music by talking about pickles in his refrigerator. To this day, his family claims that Syd had no medical issues and was a perfectly sane man, but other disagree. Barrett died in 2006 of pancreatic cancer.
John Bonham – Led Zeppelin
Bonzo is hailed as the best drummer of all time by many musicians and journalists alike. His seemingly impossible beats and furious drum solos made him a force to be reckoned with in the musical world. He is probably best known for his 30 minute drum solo “Moby Dick” which features heavy dynamic shifts and even the use of his bare hands to achieve unique sounds. But his heavy dependence on alcohol would eventually do him in. Bonham was a party animal; for his 25th birthday, George Harrison (The Beatles) decided it was a good idea to throw the cake at Bonzo. Bonham retaliated by throwing every guest he could find into the pool. Jimmy Page, who could not swim and was dressed in a very expensive suit, eventually walked into the pool under his own power, knowing it was a lost cause to resist. There is even one instance where a reporter was given one simple rule when meeting the band, “Never look John Bonham directly in the eyes. This is for your own safety”, he apparently wasn’t a big fan of that.
Don't look this bitch in the eye's either
But John’s habit of partying would eventually catch up to him, and cost him his life. On September 24th 1980, Bonzo stopped for breakfast on the way to rehearsals for an upcoming U.S. tour. As was common practice, he was drinking heavily. And when I say heavily, I mean that he drank four quadruple vodkas (16 shots) for breakfast. Bonham went on drinking through out the day and into the night when the band went back to Page’s house. Eventually, Bonham passed out and was taken to bed and carefully placed on his side. Unfortunately, some time during the night he had rolled onto his back. He died sometime during the night after asphyxiating on his own vomit, one of many to meet this fateful end. Upon performing an autopsy, it was found that Bonham had the equivalent of 40 drinks in his system. For those keeping score at home, that adds up to more than a liter, or enough to fill a little more than one and one half fifths of liquor. Bonham’s grave is frequented by Zeppelin fans and is littered with drumsticks as a tribute.
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