Light my fire

Jim Morrison was the singer/song writer for the band The Doors. The doors got signed to a famous record label in 1967.  Jim Morrison ofter got in trouble with the media on many different occasions. When asked to play on the Ed Sullivan show he was supposed to censor one of the lines and change it. Jim Morrison however refused to change it and Ed Sullivan was so mad that he said that they could never play on his show again. Another time he tried to spark a riot at a show and was arrested. Jim Morrison also had a drug/alcohol addiction and it was getting to the point where he wouldn't be able to function at shows and in the studio. Sadly on July 3 1971 he died from a heroin overdose.

Wu Tang

Ol' Dirty Bastard was a rapper for the famous rap group The Wu Tang Clan. He was a founding member of the group and was known for his style of rapping which included many obscenities and was half rapping and half singing. After The Wu Tang Clan he had a very successful solo career. However he had a major problem with drugs though throughout his career. He was arrested many times for crimes including robbery and drug possessions plus he was a convicted felon. On November 13 2004 he collapsed at the studio and was pronounced dead later that night. His cause of death was a lethal amount of cocaine and Tramadol. He still lives on today as one of the most successful rappers due to his success with The Wu Tang Clan.

The Long Hard Road Out Of Hell

Shock rocker Marilyn Manson has been known for his controversy. He is the lead singer/song writer of his band. Due to his songs he has been depicted as the cause for many tragedies that have happened in the world. Marilyn Manson was bullied as a kid and had a hard life. Due to this he started using many drugs as a teenager and throughout his career. However he never had a major problem with drugs like many other musicians and was able to stay clean and still continue to make music.

Cowboys from Hell

Phil Anselmo was the singer for the very famous metal band Pantera. Before Pantera was famous they were an unsigned glam band however in 1986 they wanted to go towards the metal direction and found their front-man Phil Anselmo.In 1990 Pantera was signed and their album Cowboys From Hell was released and a long tour began. After that album Pantera recorded many more and always were touring and climbing up the billboard chart. Phil Anselmo had a bad heroin addiction along with other drugs though and claimed he used due to his bad back. On July 13 1996 he went into cardiac arrest from a lethal heroin overdose and was pronounced dead for 4-5 minutes before he was revived. In 2003 Pantera disbanded because of complications with Phil Anselmo. Phil kept up his side projects though and kept living the rock and roll life. In 2005 he stopped using hard drugs in order to get his back surgery done. Phil Anselmo may have been arrogant but he was one of the best metal singers.

Kurt Cobain takes his life

Kurt Cobain was the singer/guitarist/songwriter for Nirvana. Nirvana got the grunge movement going and is one of the most famous bands to come out of that era. However Kurt Cobain was often frustrated because he felt like the audience and media misunderstood his lyrics. Even with the success of Nirvana Kurt Cobain had many personal issues. He was always very depressed, got sick often and struggled with heroin. On March 3 1994 his wife found him unconscious after drinking a whole bottle of champagne and taking Rohypnol. He almost died from this suicide attempt but he lived. After this incident their were several other times where he wanted to or tried to commit suicide. Sadly on April 8 1994 his body was discovered after lying their for about three days. The cause of death was a shotgun wound to the head however he also had done a lethal amount of heroin. Kurt Cobain started the grunge music and will always be missed by fans.

Driving that train high on cocaine

Jerry Garcia was the singer/lead guitarist for the famous jam band The Grateful Dead. Jerry Garcia was one of the founding members of the band and performed with them for their entire three decade career. He was known for his soulful guitar improvisations. Garcia was also in many side projects that he started as well. Later in life he became sick a lot due to his unstable wait and in 1986 he almost died after going into a diabetic coma however he lived and kept going. Sadly though Jerry had a drug addiction and was always using heroin. He went in many rehabs however he never seem to get how to stay clean. While staying in rehab in California Jerry Garcia died. The cause of death was a heart attack related to his drug addiction as well as his other health problems. Jerry Garcia is one of the most famous guitarists ever and he is still honored today for his work with The Grateful Dead.

(Sic)

Paul Grey was slipknot's bassist. Slipknot was one of the biggest metal bands and due to their success they went platinum. Paul was a founding member of the band and one of the key song writers for the band. While the other band members would fight Paul was always the guy who would try and keep the band together. While he was a successful musician he also had a problem with drugs. In June of 2003 he crashed his car and when the police arrived they found marijuana, cocaine and other paraphernalia in his vehicle and he was arrested. Even after this though no one acted like Paul had a problem with drugs and figured he was just a musician who used occasionally. On may 24 2010 he was found dead in a hotel room. The autopsy was first released stating that their was no foul player and they could not find the cause of death. On June 21 2010 it was released that he died from an overdose of morphine and fentanyl. He is truly missed by his band members but the Slipknot is still touring.

Stairway to Heaven

John Bonham is known as one of the best drummers in the world. He gained his fame playing with his band Led Zeppelin. He was admired for his many skills as a drummer including speed, power and distinctive sound. At first Bonham was reluctant to join the band at first and was even receiving offers from other famous bands to be their drummer but he eventually joined Led Zeppelin because he liked their sound better. On Led Zeppelin's first album everyone noticed how talented of a drummer Bonham was. During their live shows he was well known for his long yet amazing drum solos. However even though John Bonham was an amazing drummer he had one big problem which was his alcohol use. On September 24th 1980 John Bonham went on a heavy drinking binge. He took 16 shots with breakfast and kept drinking throughout the day. Later that night he passed out and was placed on his side in his bed. When his bandmates found him the next morning however he was dead. He vomited in his sleep and choked on it due to his alcohol consumption. In his autopsy it emerged that he took 40 shots within his last 24 hours. Bonhams death was a sad event but his legacy as one of the best drummers still lives on today.

Syd Barrett goes insane

Syd Barrett was a founding member of the very famous band Pink Floyd. He was one of the guitarists/song writers and was an interesting guy. Syd Barrett liked to indulge in many drugs but the one he used most was LSD. Through late 1967 and early 1968 he became very hard to predict and would act very erratic mainly due to his heavy uses of LSD. During one performance of a song he stood on stage and detuned his whole guitar on stage. While the audience loved it the band was getting fed up with his behavior. While opening for Hendrix the band had to find other guitarists to play with them because Syd would be to high or just wouldn't show up. Later that year a guitarist was asked to take Syd's place because he would just wander around stage hardly ever playing his guitar. On April 6 1968 he was officially kicked out of the band due to his drug use and inability to perform.

Alcoholica (Metallica) Kicks out alcoholic guitarist

Dave Mustaine has been known as one of the best metal guitarists in the world. In the early 80's he was a part of the top grossing metal act in the world Metallica. He was the first lead guitarist and song writer for the band. While Dave Mustaine was a really talented guitarist he had some problems of his own. He would get wasted every day and become crazy according to the rest of the band. While the other band members were always partying as well Dave Mustaine didn't have any control and was an alcoholic. He eventually got kicked out of Metallica after many warnings. The last straw was when he poured beer all over the bass players bass guitar causing him to get shocked. Shortly after getting fired from Metallica Dave Mustaine met some other metal musicians and formed his own band Megadeth. Megadeth was also a high grossing band selling millions of records but they never quite reached the fame of Metallica. Dave Mustaine kept partying though throughout his carreer. He is now currently sober though and is still touring with his band Megadeth.

Shannon Hoon was the front-man and lead singer of the band Blind Melon. Shannon Hoon met the fellow members of the band at a party. After seeing him play a song acoustically they invited him to join and the band Blind Melon was formed. In 1991 the band reordered a four song demo tape and subsequently signed a $500,000 recording contract. In 1992 they released their debut self titled album and instantly started touring and were opening up for big acts. Shannon Hoon was the wild man of the band and was always on drugs. He would walk on stage sometimes openly smoking marijuana. He was arrested several times for indecent acts while on stage for example one time he urinated on a fan. Shannon Hoon kept going in and out of rehab for the many drugs he used. The night before his death Shannon Hoon took many drugs after doing a show that he was not proud of. On October 21, 1995 his band mates found him dead on the tour bus from a cocaine overdose. Even though Shannon Hoon was not famous for long he will forever live in music history.

John Entwistle

John Entwistle has been voted the number 1 bass player of all time by Rolling Stone Magazine. John Entwistle was The Who's bass player but he also played all the horns on The Who's albums. What set him apart from other bass players was that he played the bass guitar like it was a lead instrument and played bass solo's. Another thing that set him a part from bassists during that era was the fact he used a really trebly bass sound. John Entwistle was also one of the main song writers in The Who and even had a few songs he sang like "Boris the Spider". He used many different techniques for playing the bass like tapping and harmonics. He could play with a pick or play with his fingers. Another truly impressive skill about Entwistle was the fact he could play using all four fingers therefore giving him his speed. Sadly though Entwistle had problems with drugs. He was a cocaine addict and was able to quit for a while but on June 27th, 2002 he had a heart attack as a result. The band was about to go on a big tour and he died one day before the first scheduled show. Entwistle was the best bass player in the history of music and I don't think anyone will come close to beating him anytime soon.

Purple Haze

Jimi Hendrix has been viewed as the best guitarist in American History. After touring Europe with his band The Jimi Hendrix Experience he came to the United States and instantly received fame and recognition after his 1967 performance at the Monterey Pop Festival. What really put Jimi on the map though was when he headlined Woodstock in 1969 and the 1970 Isle of Wright festival. Jimi Hendrix was known to play with his guitar behind his back and also was known to light his guitar on fire on stage. He was also known for his use of drugs which varied from LSD to pills. Sadly on September 18, 1970 Jimi Hendrix was found dead in London. He had spent the previous night at a party and was taken home by his girlfriend. She claimed that when they arrived to their home that night that Jimi had take nine of her prescribed Vesperax sleeping pills. The normal does of these pills was 1/2 to 1. Due to drinking at the party that night he got sick in his sleep and wasn't able to wake up due to the sleeping pills which made him asphyxiate. The death of Jimi Hendrix was a tragic tevent however even though he passed away in the 70's his legacy still lives on today.

Keith Moon, the worlds craziest drummer.

Keith Moon was the drummer for the band The Who. Keith Moon joined The Who in 1964 and was a member up until 1978 which is when he died. Keith Moon was known as the most wildest member of The Who and due to his self destructive behavior he earned the nickname "Moon The Loon". During a live show which was televised Keith Moon got the bright idea of putting explosives in his drum set which caused Pete Townsend to become deaf in one ear. Keith Moon was also known to party more than the rest of the band. He was a drug addict and he was also an alcoholic. During one show Keith Moon took two horse tranquilizers and chased them down with brandy. He wasn't able to play so he ended up getting in a fight with Pete Townsend and when he went back to his drum set he passed out. Due to this The Who had to get a fan to play their set. On the Evening of September 6 1978 Keith Moon got in a fight with his girlfriend and went to his house and took 32 tablets of clomethiazole which was a strong sedative he had been prescribed to alleviate his alcohol withdrawal symptoms. After taking the pills Keith Moon sadly passed away. The police determined that 6 of the pills killed him because the other 26 were still undissolved when he died. Although Keith Moon's death was a tragedy his legacy still lives on today.

Nikki Sixx battles with heroin.....

Motley Crue is one of the most famous hair metal bands in the world. They were one of the most wild bands during their era and all partied and used drugs. The rest of the band struggled with addiction as well but Nikki Sixx was battling for his life.

Like many other musicians with drugs addictions Nikki had a rough child hood and was abandoned by his mother at a young age. During Nikki's teen years he was a rebel and was always getting in trouble for fighting, stealing, and using/selling drugs. When he met the other members of Motley Crue in his teen years all hell broke loose. They were living the rock star life and were loving it. It was all fun and games at first but Nikki's life was spiraling out of control fast. He went through a long and tough battle with Cocaine and Heroin. His paranoia got so bad at one point that he would spend many nights in his house hiding in his closet because he thought the police were coming to get him. He would hold his shotgun and contemplated killing him self over and over again. One time during his addiction he overdosed twice in one night. He overdosed in a drug dealers house so they dumped him in a trashcan when he woke up and went back to his house and overdosed again in his bathroom. After this he decided that he wanted to get off of drugs. He still struggled with drug use for a while after that but he managed to finally stay clean and sober. He wrote a book called "The Heroin Diaries" which goes through a year of his life of drug use and trying to get clean. Since the book Nikki has helped thousands of teenagers stay off drugs and is still living clean and sober today.

Brian 'Head' Welch overcomes his addiction and finds God

Korn's guitarist Brian 'head' Welch battled with drug addiction since the band was formed. As a little kid he was picked on because he was different. He picked up the nickname 'head' as a little kid because other kids said his head was to big for his body. Due to being picked on he wanted to fit in and started using drugs at a young age. When he met up which the other guys from Korn the band was formed. Their first big release was in 1993 and the CD was self titled called "Korn". This CD put Korn on the charts and they became one of the best selling hard rock bands of the 90's.

When Korn was on tour they were hardly ever sober. Welch prepared for these tours by stashing speed "Methamphetamine" in as many places as he could including vitamin capsules, deodorant containers and his own clothes. He also drank alcohol all the time and was addicted to Xanax and sleeping pills. Despite being in a world famous band Welch was miserable while he was on tour. His addiction had him spiraling down hill fast and it was a struggle for him to even play the guitar anymore. When he did play on tours he was so strung out that he would normally stay in the same spot and not barely even move during the whole show.

On Febuary 22, 2005 he decided that it was time for a change and dropped out of Korn. He had found Jesus and wanted to be their for his daughter. He also flushed all his drugs down his toilet and has been clean and sober since. He wrote a best selling book called "Save Me From Myself" and also released a solo CD with the same title. In his book he described his whole life and his horrible addiction and how he overcame it. If you are ever looking for a powerful and inspiring book to read check out "Save me from myself" by Brian 'Head' Welch.