Musicians who died of drugs or alcohol

John Belushi - died of a drug overdose on March 5th, 1982, at the age of 33. He and his partner Dan Aykroyd placed four songs on The Billboard Top 40, including "Soul Man" in 1979, as The Blues Brothers

Mike Bloomfield - lead guitarist for The Electric Flag died of a drug overdose on February 15th, 1981 at the age of 38

Tommy Bolin - the guitarist who took over when Ritchie Blackmore left Deep Purple in 1975, died from a drug overdose on December 4th, 1976 at the age of 25


John Bonham - 32 year old drummer for Led Zeppelin, passed out and choked to death on his own vomit on September 25th 1980, following an all-day drinking binge. In December of 1980, Led Zeppelin announced they were disbanding, saying they could not continue without Bonham


Tim Buckley - a popular performer and song writer during the 1960s and early 70s, died from a drug overdose on June 25th, 1975 at the age of 28

Paul Butterfield  - who fronted The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, died of drug-related heart failure, May 4th 1987. He was 45


Ray Charles - singer / pianist who won twelve Grammy awards and is remembered for hits like "Hit the Road Jack", "What'd I Say" and "Georgia on My Mind", succumbed to complications from liver disease on June 10th, 2004, at the age of 73

Steve Clark - guitarist for Def Leppard, died from an accidental mixing of prescription drugs and alcohol on January 8th, 1991, at the age of 31

Michael Clarke - drummer for The Byrds and later Firefall, died of liver failure on December 19th, 1993. He was 47 years old

Brian Cole - bass guitarist and vocalist with The Association, died in Los Angeles of a heroin overdose on August 2nd, 1972. He was 28

Vincent Crane  - former keyboardist for The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, died on February 14th, 1989 of an overdose of painkillers.





Nick Drake - English singer / songwriter and musician best known for his acoustic songs. Although he failed to find a wide audience during his lifetime, Drake's work has grown steadily in stature, to the extent that he is now widely considered one of the most influential English singer-songwriters of the last 50 years. The 26 year old musician died on November 25th, 1974, from an overdose of amitriptyline, a type of anti-depressant

Brian Epstein - the manager of The Beatles who took the band from a quartet of rough-necks to being "the most successful rock band in history" in just over two years, died of a drug overdose on August 27th, 1967, three weeks short of his 33rd birthday

Tom Evens - of Badfinger, died November 19th, 1983 at the age of 36. Like his bandmate, Pete Ham, Evens also hanged himself

Pete Farndon - bassist for The Pretenders on their US Top 20 hits "Brass In Pocket" (1980) and "Back On The Chain Gang" (1983), died of a drug overdose on April 14th, 1983. He was 30 years old

Manuel Fernandez - founding member and organist for Los Bravos on their 1966 hit "Black Is Black", committed suicide on May 20th, 1967. He was just 23 years old

Mickey Finn - drummer for T Rex, died of kidney and liver problems on January 11th, 2002, at the age of 55. The band reached #10 in the US with "Bang A Gong" in 1972 and had over 20 other UK top 40 singles

Alan Freed - disc jockey who is often credited with popularizing the phrase "rock and roll" in the mid 1950s, died of cirrhosis of the liver on Jan. 20th, 1965 at the age of 43

Rory Gallagher - an Irish blues / rock guitarist best known for his tenure in Taste and his solo work, died of liver failure on June 14th, 1995 at the age of 47

Rick Grech - bassist with Blind Faith, died of drug related causes in 1990

Malcolm Hale - of Spanky and Our Gang, died of liver failure on October 31st, 1968, at the age of 27. The group placed five songs on the Billboard Top 40 between 1967 and 1968, including "Sunday Will Never Be The Same" and "Lazy Day"

Peter Ham - singer / guitarist for Badfinger, committed suicide on April 23rd, 1975. He was reported to be deeply depressed by financial problems the group was having. He was 27 years old

Tim Hardin - singer / songwriter who is best remembered for "If I Were A Carpenter" died of a drug overdose on December 29th, 1980. He was 39



Donny Hathaway - who achieved his greatest commercial success as Roberta Flack's duet partner on 1972's R&B chart topper, "Where Is the Love?" He was found dead on the sidewalk below the 15th-floor window of his New York apartment, a victim of an apparent suicide at the age of 33

Jimi Hendrix - died September 18th, 1970 from what the coroner's report called 'inhalation of vomit after barbiturate intoxication'. He was 27

Tony Jackson - bass player for The Searchers, a Liverpool band best known for the 1964 song "Needles and Pins", died August 18th, 2003 of cirrhosis of the liver. He was 63

Rick James - most often remembered for the 1981, #16 hit "Super Freak", died on August 6th, 2004, at the age of 56. An autopsy revealed that there were at least nine drugs in his system including cocaine, valium, vicodin, and methamphetamine. Because none of the substances were found in lethal quantities, his death was ruled as accidental

Janis Joplin - died on October 4th, 1970 from an overdose of heroin at age 27


Phil Kramer - who took Lee Dorman's place when Iron Butterfly re-formed in 1975, was found in a canyon in the Santa Monica Mountains, on May 31st, 1999, over four years after he called a police to say he was going to commit suicide. At the time of his death, he was 42

Nicolette Larson - most often remembered for her 1978, number 8 US hit, "Lotta Love", died on December 16th, 1997 after suffering massive liver failure. She was 45


Frankie Lymon - who led the 1950's doo-wop group 'The Teenagers' to fame with "Why Do Fools Fall In Love", was found dead of a drug overdose in a friend's apartment in Harlem on February 28th, 1968. He was 25 years old


Phil Lynott - bassist for Thin Lizzy, lost his battle with drugs and died of heart failure and pneumonia on January 4th, 1986 at the age of 34

Richard Manuel - of "The Band", hanged himself in his hotel room on March 4th, 1986, after a performance in Florida. He was 56


Robbie McIntosh - drummer for The Average White Band died of a drug overdose on Sepember 23rd, 1974

Keith Moon - drummer for The Who, died of an overdose of the sedative Heminevrin on September 7th, 1978, at the age of 31

Jim Morrison - lead singer of the Doors, died July 3rd 1971. The 27-year-old was found dead in his bathtub. Speculation abounded as to the exact cause of death, but no autopsy was performed. His 27 year old widow, Pamela, died of a heroin overdose in April, 1974

Nervous Norvus - whose real name was James Drake, reached #8 in 1956 with a novelty tune about bloody accidents called "Transfusion". He Died of liver failure on July 24th, 1968 at the age of 56


Phil Ochs - 1960s singer/songwriter who concentrated on topical, folk and protest style songs, suffered from manic-depression and hanged himself on April 9th, 1976, at the age of 35

John Panozzo - of Styx, died of a haemorrhage brought on by alcoholism, on July 16th, 1996, at the age of 48. The band had a string of hits that included "Grand Illusion", "Mr. Roboto", "Come Sail Away" and "Babe"

Gram Parsons - one time member of The Byrds & The Flying Burrito Brothers, he became a cult figure that influenced countless musicians. Parsons was found dead at Joshua Tree, Ca. Sept 19th, 1973 of an alcohol and drug overdose at the age of 27

Jon Paulos - drummer for The Buckinghams on their string of 1967 hits, including "Kind Of A Drag" and "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy", died of a drug overdose on March 26th, 1980. He was 32

Dee Dee Ramone - bassist for the 70s punk rock band The Ramones died from a drug overdose on June 7th, 2002. His real name is Douglas Colvin

David Ruffin - former lead singer of the Temptations died of an overdose of crack cocaine on June 1st, 1991 at the age of 50

Gary "Gar" Samuelson - the drummer for Megadeth from 1984 through 1987 when he was fired for drug addictions, died of liver failure on July 22nd, 1999 at the age of 41

Bon Scott - of AC/DC, died of alcohol poisoning on February 19th, 1980. He was 33

James Honeyman Scott - guitarist for The Pretenders on their 1980 hit "Brass In Pocket", died of a drug overdose on June 16th, 1982, at the age of 24

Rory Storm - who led The Hurricanes, the group that Ringo Starr quit to join the Beatles, died of an overdose of sleeping pills on September 27th, 1972


Gary Thain - former bassist of the British band Uriah Heep, died December 8th, 1975 of a heroin overdose. He was 27

Sid Vicious - bassist for the punk rock group the Sex Pistols, died from an accumulation of fluid on the lungs, characteristic of heroin abuse, on February 2nd, 1979. He was just 21 years old

Flemming Williams - lead singer for The Hues Corporation on their 1974 hit "Rock The Boat", died of drug related causes in September, 1992


http://www.classicbands.com/heaven.html

Kristen Pfaff
Jeremy Michael Ward-The Mars Volta
Sean Patrick McDade-Ink and Dagger
Ron McKernan-Grateful Dead
Bryan Ottoson-American Head Charge
Alan Wilson-Canned Heat
Layne Staley
Kurt Cobain
Bradley Nowell
Shannon Hoon
Smashing Pumpkins member

Janis Joplin, American Blues Singer – Heroin/alcohol overdose aged 27

·         Kurt Cobain, lead signer & guitarist of Nirvana - committed suicide after heavy heroin use aged 27

·         Brian Jones, musician, Rolling Stones - died of drowning after alcohol and barbiturate use aged 26

·         Chet Baker, trumpeter/singer – heroin addict, died after falling from an upstairs window aged 58

·         Brian Connolly, member of the band “Sweet” – died of liver failure after years of substance abuse

·         Michael Clarke, drummer for “The Byrds” – died of liver failure from alcohol abuse, aged 47

·         Pete Farndon, bassist for the Pretenders – died of a heroin overdose, aged 31

·         Billy Holiday, aka Lady Day, Jazz singer – died of liver cirrhosis after years of heroin/opium abuse

·         Hillel Slovak,  guitarist for the Red Hot Chilli Peppers – died of a heroin overdose, aged 26

·         David Michael Alexander: bassist for protopunk band The Stooges – excessive use of drugs/alcohol

·         Florence Ballard, founder/lead singer of The Supremes – cardiac arrest due to alcoholism, aged 35

·         Benny Berigan,  leading jazz trumpeter - died from excessive use of alcohol, aged 33

·         Michael Bernard Bloomfield, American guitarist/composer - died of a Heroine overdose, aged 38

·         Tommy Bolin, guitarist with Zephyr & Deep Purple - died from drugs/alcohol poisoning, aged 25

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