Tim Buckley: Age 28
(b. 14 February 1947, Washington, DC, USA, d. 29 June 1975).
Tim Buckley died in June 1975, of a heroin overdose.  The story goes like this: After a short tour culminating in a sold-out show at an 1,800-capacity venue in Dallas, the band partied on the way home, as was customary. An inebriated Tim proceeded to his good friend Richard Keeling's house in order to score some heroin. As Underwood tells it, Keeling, in flagrante delicto and unwilling to be disturbed, argued with Buckley : "Finally, in frustration, Richard put a quantity of heroin on a mirror and thrust it at Tim, saying, 'Go ahead, take it all', like a challenge. As was his way, Tim sniffed the lot. Whenever he was threatened or told what to do, he rebelled." Staggering and lurching around the house, Buckley had to be taken home, where Judy Buckley laid him on the floor with a pillow. She then put him  to bed, thinking he would recover; when she checked later, he'd turned an ominous shade of blue. The paramedics were called but it was too late.  Tim Buckley was dead.   ~By Martin Aston

Lester Butler: Age 38
13, Red Devils 
Born:  Nov 12, 1959; Died: May 10, 1998
LA  singer and harpist.  Lived hard, played hard, died hard: "Les didn't overdose -- he was overdosed while unconscious and unable to help/defend himself. While Les was at the house of Bill B. Friday night May 8 he was injected by a woman named April Ortega.  She gave him too much and it caused him to immediately pass out.  She and Bill got scared and threw him in an ice-bath but it didnt help.  Next her boyfriend Glenn Demidow arrived and they decided to inject Les with cocaine instead of getting him medical attention. Nothing happened.  So they injected him again with more cocaine.  Nothing happened.  So they injected him AGAIN with even more cocaine. They still didn't get him medical help.  April and Glenn then drove him to his gig and left him in his van (unconscious) while they went in and listened to Lester's band (without Lester) telling people that he had passed out and was sleeping it off...They still didn't  get him medical help but instead took him to their apartment at 2am, they went to sleep, then the next night after he had died in their care dropped his dead body back at Bill B.s house. " ~Anonymous
LESTER'S MUSIC

Herb Caro: Age 22
From an interview with Chuck Nessa:
Well the real surprise is a guy that I'm sure nobody will have heard of. His name is Herb Caro, a clarinet and saxophone player. He plays various tenor solos on here, he plays baritone in a big band and baritone saxophone solos on another small band, and clarinet in ensemble. A young guy that befriended Mingus in San Francisco and he actually worked Mingus' last four record dates in California.   Then he promptly went off to New York in search of Charlie Parker and caught the disease of many of those who did the same, then came back home to San Francisco and died of an overdose while in his early 20's. But he's a very interesting player: obviously influenced by Lester in his solos. He sounds at times like he could be Brew Moore or something. And then with his baritone playing he sounds similar to Serge Chaloff.  But he's a very young guy, obviously very bright, in his formative years. I can't imagine what he would have turned into had he survived.

Darby Crash:  Age 22
Germs
Died: December 7, 1980
Los Angeles punk band the Germs was formed in April 1977 and quickly became one of the most popular and influential in that area of music. The group disbanded in early 1980 but reformed later that year.   A week after their first reunion concert, however, singer Crash died of an intentional heroin overdose.
See: Lexicon Devil: The Fast Times and Short Life of Darby Crash and the Germs

Jesse Ed Davis: Age 43
(Born  Sep 21, 1944 in OK, Died Jun 22, 1988 in Venice, CA)
A full-blooded Kiowa Indian, Jesse Ed Davis was perhaps the most versatile session guitarist of the late '60s and early '70s. Whether it was blues, country or rock, Davis' tasteful guitar playing was featured on albums by such giants as Eric Clapton, Neil Diamond, John Lennon and John Lee Hooker, among others. It is Davis' weeping slide heard on Clapton's "Hello Old Friend" (from No Reason to Cry), and on both Rock n' Roll and Walls & Bridges, it is Davis who supplied the bulk of the guitar work for ex-Beatle Lennon.   In and out of clinics, Davis disappeared from the music industry for a time, spending much of the '80s dealing with alcohol and drug addiction. Just before his death of a suspected drug overdose in 1988, Davis resurfaced playing in the Graffiti Band... ~Steve Kurutz, All-Music Guide

Dwayne "Duck" Goettel: Age 31  photo
Skinny Puppy     Download
(Born: Feb 1, 1964;
Died: August 23, 1995,  in his parents' home in Edmonton, Alberta)
Was the drummer for influential industrial band Skinny Puppy, as well as Tear Garden, aDUCK, and Download.  Skinny Puppy disbanded June 12, 1995. ~ The ShanMonster  

Tim Hardin: 38
(b. 23 December 1941, Eugene, Oregon, USA, d. 29 December 1980).
Beset by heroin addiction, his later work is a ghost of that early excellence. Tim Hardin died, almost forgotten and totally underrated, in December 1980, of a heroin/morphine overdose.

Janis Joplin: Age 27
Big Brother & The Holding Company
(b.19 January 1943, Port Arthur, Texas, USA, d. 4 October 1970).
Joplin developed a brash, uncompromising vocal style quite unlike accustomed folk madonnas Joan Baez and Judy Collins.   In 1963 Janis moved to San Francisco where she became a regular attraction at the North Beach Coffee Gallery. This initial spell was blighted by her addiction to amphetamines and in 1965 Joplin returned to Texas in an effort to dry out.  The following year Janis was invited back to the Bay Area to front Big Brother And The Holding Company. Janis’ reputation blossomed following the Monterey Pop Festival, of which she was one of the star attractions.  Electric Flag members Mike Bloomfield, Harvey Brooks and Nick Gravenites helped assemble a new act, initially known as Janis And The Joplinaires, but later as the Full Tilt Boogie Band.  In July they toured Canada with the Grateful Dead, before commencing work on a ‘debut’ album, Pearl.  The sessions were all but complete when, on 4 October 1970, Joplin died of a heroin overdose at her Hollywood hotel. Links Page

Frankie Lymon: Age 25
Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers
(b. 30 September 1942, Washington Heights, New York, d. 28 Feb. 1968, New York City).
Often billed as the ‘boy wonder’, In 1964, he was convicted of possessing narcotics and his finances were in a mess. His private life was equally chaotic and punctuated by three marriages. In February 1968, he was discovered dead on the bathroom floor of his grandmother's New York apartment with a syringe by his side. The Teenager who never grew up was dead at the tragically early age of 25.

David McComb:Age 36
Triffids
(b. , d. 2 February 1999)
A note from a visitor to the David McComb tribute page:
"It is absolutely safe to include David as a Heroin Overdose, That definitely killed him. The piece you have published refers to a car accident. The car accident has been ruled out as a cause of death.  On Feb. 14th the coroners finding will be released and it will all be on the public record -- then I have a copy of the Post Mortem report so I am not making this up!" ~ Regards,  A friend and fan of D. McComb

Robbie McIntosh: Age 24
Average White Band
(b. 6 May 1950, Dundee, Scotland, d. 23 September 1974, Hollywood)
This sextet was the natural culmination of several soul-influenced Scottish beat groups. AWB, also known as the "White Album" in deference to its cover art, was a superb collection and paired the group's dynamism with Arif Mardin's complementary production. The highlights included a spellbinding version of the Isley Brothers' Work To Do, and the rhythmic original instrumental, Pick Up The Pieces, a worthy US number 1 / UK Top 10 single. A euphoric period was abruptly punctured in 1974 by the tragic death of  McIntosh following a fatal ingestion of heroin.  Drummer Robbie McIntosh was accidentally poisoned at a Hollywood Hills party when he was spiked with a lethal amount of heroin, and he died at age 24. This event could have caused the premature end of AWB, until the despairing band were joined by Steve Ferrone, an old friend who had replaced Robbie in Oblivion Express. His presence helped get the band back on the road and into the studio to record the Cut The Cake album, which they dedicated to Robbie.

Jonathan Melvoin: 34
Smashing Pumkins, Prince
b 1962 d. 12 July 1996
A backup musician for the Smashing Pumpkins was found dead of an apparent heroin overdose in a Manhattan hotel room early Friday, and the alternative band's drummer was charged with heroin possession.  Twenty-two-year-old drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, who  has a history of drug and alcohol problems, was  with keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin, 34, when he overdosed at the Regency Hotel. New York police  say Chamberlin made the 911 call that brought officers to the Park Avenue hotel at 4:15 a.m. Melvoin, who was not a full-time Pumpkin, was pronounced dead at the scene.Ironically, Jonathan Melvoin's jazz-playing father, Michael, a former chair of the academy, fought to eliminate drugs from the music industry. ~Marcus Errico Eonline

Jim Morrison: Age 27
The Doors
(b.James Douglas Morrison, 8 December 1943, Melbourne, Florida,
d. 3 July 1971, Paris).
The Florida born Morrison was fed up with the music industry in LA, so in March of 1971 he packed up and went to live in Paris with his on again/off again partner, Pamela Courson...Morrison was a rather large shadow of his former self during his final months. Too much booze (he was a confirmed alcoholic), heroin and women. There were vague plans for another Doors album, or a tour, but it was never to be...He and Pam then shared an apartment at 17 rue Beautreillis, near place de la Bastille, not far from Pere Lachaise. Jim had visited the cemetery only a few weeks before his death...It all ended for Jimbo on July 3, 1971 at 5am. It seems that Morrison had spent the evening at Rock n Roll Circus (now called the "Whisky A Go Go" at 57 rue de la Seine), where he acquired a fix. It was Chinese and very pure. Some would say too pure. There is one story that Jim died in the club, then his body was taken back to his apartment. Officially, he died in the apartment, in the bathtub, from heart failure. He was 27.   Pam reportedly told the police that Jim complained of feeling ill, and asked her to get a bath ready. Minutes later she discovered him, unconscious in the tub... No autopsy was done, and Pam "could not remember" the name of the doctor who signed the certificate: "Heart problems were aggravated by the abuse of alcohol, followed by an abrupt change of temperature caused cardiac arrest." ...On Wednesday, the coffin was buried secretly in Pere Lachaise. ~Jon Spiteri, Find a Death
From a visitor to this site: I am a huge Doors/Jim Morrison fan and on your site it says that he was killed in the Chinese a Go-go where someone fixed him up some heroine that was "too pure". That is not true. It was late one night that Morrison came home to his apartment when he saw Pamela Courson and a pile of white powder on the table next to her. Jim and Pamela often got in violent fights about her heroine addiction. Pamela did not want to get into another fight so she told Jim that it was Cocaine. Jim had been known to like cocaine so of course, he snorted it. The heroine was too pure and too much for Jim because he never really often did heroine, and the amount was so much that Jim could not handle the amount. He fell to the ground and Pamela panicked and got a tub of warm water ready (this was known to cure heroine addicts). She put Jim in the tub and called the police. Jim Morrison was pronounced dead at 9:27 p.m. on July 3rd, 1971.  I hope you reconsider and change the info on your site as it is
inaccurate. Thank you for your time. ~Nick
Jim Morrison may have to be exhumed and moved from Paris, says 'Rolling Stone' magazine, on or around the 6th July 2001... This date is when the 30-year lease on his grave expires. The 'Guvnor' at Père Lachaise cemetery says they are sick of cleaning up after fans who visit Morrison's grave. The cemetery, also contains the remains Oscar Wilde, Chopin, Proust and Jean-Paul Sartre.  Ray Manzarek, The Doors minder and spokesman, said that Morrison may be moved to the Czech National Cemetery, and laid to rest next to Franz Kafka, although Morrison's Mum and Dad have the final say.

Bradley Nowell: Age 28
Sublime
(b. Febuary 22,1968 - d. May 25,1996, SF)
Mostly due to KROQ's radio exposure, Sublime signed to MCA for 1994's Robbin' the Hood, which revealed an experimental ethic more in keeping with cut-and-paste dub than the well-tuned rage of the Cali punk revival. The album performed well at college radio, and set the stage for the breakout success of their self-titled third album. On May 25, 1996, however, Brad Nowell was found in a San Francisco hotel room, dead of a heroin overdose. The band collapsed, but Sublime was still slated for a July release. On the strength of the alternative radio hit "What I Got," the album was certified gold by the end of 1996.

Kristen Pfaff: Age 27
Hole     Janitor Joe
b. 1967 d. 16 June 94
In June of 1994, Kristen had gone back to Seattle to pack up the things that she had left behind when she had moved back to Minneapolis. Her U-Haul was parked out front of her King County apartment. A friend  [Paul Erickson, the bassist in the Minneapolis band Hammerhead] slept in another room while she went in to take a bath. The friend awoke and realized Kristen was not out of the bathroom yet. He knocked. He could hear that she had fallen asleep in the tub-a normal thing for Kristen. He went back to sleep. The next morning, June 16, the worried friend kicked open the door only to find that Kristen had died during the night, a victim of a heroin overdose. What happened in that bathroom that night in June is Kristen's most devastating secret. ~Lynda Davis (with permission of Ms. Pfaff)

George Scott III
(October 16, 1953 - August 5, 1980) -  Bass player.
Played for John Cale, James Chance, The Contortions, 8 Eyed Spy, The Raybeats and James White And The Blacks. George Scott III  was a bass player for several New York City bands during the No Wave era. 

Will Shatter: Age 31
Flipper
(Born 1956, Died 12-9-87)
San Francisco punk band Flipper formed in 1979 with original member Will Shatter (vocals), on Subterranean, the group released its debut, and best-known album, GENERIC, in 1982. Sporting topical lyrics and both hardcore punk and noise dirges, the album is recognized as a classic of west coast punk. Other albums followed on Subterranean in 1984 and 1986, but the following year Shatter died of an accidental heroin overdose.

Hillel Slovak: Age 26
Red Hot Chili Peppers
(b. Jerusalem, Israel 13 April 1962; guitar, d. 28 June 1988).
The guys decided to release a new album by June 1988 but before then they needed to do something about Hillel.  His drug addiction was steadily worsening and the Chili family was suffering along with him. A decision was made  to let Hillel go after the show in Washington. Angelo Moore, of the support band 'Fishbone', heard what was planned and talked Anthony out of it. Hillel stayed with the band whilst they travelled to England to shoot the now infamous, socks on cocks photo of the Red Hot Chili Peppers walking across that same pedestrian crossing that the Beatles had made famous.  They returned to the U.S and decided to release a new album. 4 weeks after a joyous homecoming though, Hillel was gone. The months of drug abuse finally captured his life and he overdosed. Hillel's death shook the band to it's roots. Anthony hid out in a small mexican village-ridding himself of any lingering, narcotic cravings. Jack Irons left the band also, shutting himself from the rest of the world. He blamed the Red Hot Chili Peppers for his friends demise, therefore he wanted nothing more to do with any of it. ~Georgina - A.K.A. Mutha

Layne Staley: Age 34
Alice in Chains
(Born: Kirkland, WA, on August 22, 1967; Died: Mid April 2002)
Layne Staley, the lead singer of the pioneering grunge band Alice in Chains, was found dead on Friday at his home in Seattle. He was 34 years old. Alice in Chains was one of the first grunge bands to gain national attention. Beginning with its 1990 EP, "We Die Young," the group sang bleak visions of death, addiction and despair, set to grinding minor-key guitar riffs. Most of the band's material was written by its guitarist, Jerry Cantrell, though Mr. Staley wrote lyrics for many of its songs, including the band's first hit, "Man in the Box," with the chorus: "Feed my eyes, can you sew them shut?/Jesus Christ, deny your maker."

Vinnie Taylor:
Sha Na Na
By 1974 their act had degenerated to a dreary repetition that took its toll in discord, nervous breakdowns and more irresolvable internal problems culminating in a fatal heroin overdose by Vincent Taylor, a latter-day member.

Johnny Thunders: Age 38
New York Dolls
(b. John Anthony Genzale Jr., 15 July 1952, New York, d. 23 April 1991, New Orleans).
Johnny Thunders first gained recognition as a member of the New York Dolls, an aggregation that built a reputation for its hard R&B-influenced rock sound and glam/punk appearance in the early '70s.  Thunders left the band in 1975 along with drummer Jerry Nolan, and the pair formed a new band alongside ex- Television guitarist Richard Hell called the Heartbreakers. Thunders earned a reputation for his shambling stage performances owing to an excess of drugs and alcohol.  He later gigged with fellow junkie, Sid Vicious in the Living Dead.  Thunders was found dead in a hotel room in New Orleans, Louisiana in mysterious circumstances in 1991. He was 38. Despite Thunders’ notorious drug dependency, the autopsy failed to reveal the cause of death although later reports cite a heroin overdose.  Visitor's note: "Also, it might be worth noting in Thunders' section that his body was doubled over into a 'u' and in full rigor when they found him in a room full of drug debris. ~ Allison  Mc
Willy DeVille: "I don't know how the word got out that I lived next door, but all of a sudden the phone started ringing and ringing.  Rolling Stone was calling, the Village Voice called, his family called, and then his guitar player called.  I felt bad for all of them. It was a tragic end, and I mean, he went out in a blaze of glory, ha ha ha, so I thought I might as well make it look real good, you know, out of respect, so I just told everybody that when Johnny died he was laying down on the floor with his guitar in his hands. I made that up.  When he came out of the St. Peter's Guest House, riga mortis had set in to such an extent that his body was in a U shape. When you're laying on the floor in a fetal position, doubled over - well, when the body bag came out, it was in a U.  It was pretty awful."  from Please Kill Me by Legs McNeil & Gillian McCain

Sid Vicious: Age: 21
Sex Pistols
(b. John Simon Ritchie, 10 May 1957, London, England, d. 2 Feb. 1979).
The Sex Pistol's gigs became synonymous with violence, which reached a peak during the 100 Club's Punk Rock Festival when a girl was blinded in a glass-smashing incident involving the group's most fearful follower, Sid Vicious. On 12 October 1978, his girlfriend Nancy Spungen was found stabbed in his hotel room and Vicious was charged with murder. While released on bail, he suffered a fatal overdose of heroin and died peacefully in his sleep on the morning of 2 February 1979.

Danny Whitten: Age:  29
Circle, Rockets, Crazy Horse
(d. 18 November 1972)
Crazy Horse evolved in 1969 when singer Neil Young,  invited Danny Whitten, Billy Talbot (b. New York, bass) and Ralph Molina (b. Puerto Rico; drums) - all formerly of struggling local attraction the Rockets - to accompany him on his second album, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere. The impressive results inspired an attendant tour, but although the group also contributed to Young's After The Goldrush, their relationship was sundered in the light of Whitten's growing drug dependency.  Crazy Horse, completed with the assistance of Jack Nitzsche and  Nils Lofgren, featured several notable performances, including the emotional 'I Don't Want To Talk About It', later revived by Stewart, Rod and Everything But The Girl. Whitten succumbed to a heroin overdose in November 1972. // The deaths of Whitten and road crew member Bruce Berry inspired the harrowing Tonight's The Night, on which Young's bare-nerved emotions were expounded over his bleakest songs to date.  // The title track, performed twice, was a direct  narrative about Berry, while... Danny Whitten was heard singing "Come on Baby Let's Go Downtown," a live track recorded years earlier.

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