Death follows everyone, even rockstars.
It’s like a roadie standing behind them until the right moment.
Many fall victim to the high life.
They have one too many drinks, drive too fast, or try drugs.
Death has something more interesting in store for a few of them.
Things they never expected come in before they have a chance to react.
They may have been as surprised in their final moments as we are.
Their stories are so strange that not everyone is even willing to accept them.
Keep watching to learn about famous rockstars who died in weird and tragic ways.
Jim Morrison Jim’s is one of the most high-profile and
mysterious rockstar deaths of all time.
He was the frontman of The Doors and lived a life of excess.
He was declared dead on July 3, 1971, when he was found in the bathtub of his apartment
in Paris.
Drugs were reportedly involved, but no autopsy was performed to prove anything.
He also had a closed-casket funeral.
Rumors and theories continue to fly in the age of social media, including that he faked
his death.
Keith Relf Keith was the lead singer and harmonica player
for what would eventually become Led Zepplin after he left.
He founded the group Renaissance with his sister Jane and had a brief solo career.
Keith died at home at the age of 33 on May 14, 1976.
The story goes that he was playing an improperly grounded electric guitar in the recording
studio in his basement when he was suddenly electrocuted.
The fact that he wasn’t in the best health may have contributed to it.
He had emphysema and asthma his entire life, and that may have made him unable to survive
the shock.
Les Harvey Les was the guitarist for the band Stone the
Crows.
They were on the top of their game after their album Teenage Kicks in 1971 until tragedy
struck.
Les died on May 3, 1972.
It was another case of electrocution, but this time it was public for everyone to see.
A poorly grounded microphone shocked him while he was tuning up for a show in Swansea, Wales.
The band broke up soon after.
Steve Peregrin Took Stephen Ross Porter borrowed his stage name
from a character in J.R.R.
Tolkein’s The Hobbit.
He then rose to fame in 1967 after forming the rock duo Tyrannosaurus Rex with Marc Bolan.
Drugs and a desire to write his own material had put a wedge between the group by 1969.
He was pushed out.
None of the other bands he joined, such as Pink Fairies or Inner City Unit, were ever
as successful.
Steve died at the age of 31 on October 27, 1980.
He and his girlfriend Valerie Billet had both injected morphine that night.
The weird part was that he didn’t overdose.
He died of asphyxiation after choking on a cocktail cherry.
Terry Kath Terry was a founding member and leading guitarist
for the band Chicago.
He could also play other instruments such as the banjo, accordion, bass, and drums.
He lent lead vocals to hit songs such as Colour My World and Make Me Smile.
That prosperous career was cut too short by a tragic accident.
Terry died at the age of 31 on January 23, 1978.
He was at a party at roadie Don Johnson’s house.
That was when he started playing around with something even more dangerous than drugs or
drinks; guns.
He picked up an unloaded .38 revolver and put it to his head and pulled the trigger.
It was unloaded, but then he did the same with a 9mm semiautomatic pistol.
He didn’t realize that there was a round left in the chamber.
He was killed instantly when it went off.
Mike Edwards Mike studied cello at the Royal Academy of
Music in London.
He then played with the Electric Light Orchestra from 1972-1975.
Mike died at the age of 62 on September 3, 2010.
A 1,300-pound bale of hay suddenly began rolling down the hillside and collided with his van.
A court case ruled that it was an accident and the two farmers on trial weren’t guilty
of any health and safety violations.
Brian Jones Brian was a founding member of the Rolling
Stones.
He helped them reach their early success but was unfortunately pushed aside by the songwriting
team of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.
That, along with his drug problems, left him fired from the band in June of 1969.
Brian was tragically found dead in his swimming pool on July 3, 1969.
It was ruled a death by misadventure because alcohol and drug abuse may have played a part.
This is another death where theories abound, including that Brian was murdered.
A further investigation in 2008 found nothing new.
Randy California Randy California was the lead guitarist of
the band Spirit and one of the faces of the 60’s hippy movement.
His style was praised by everyone from Walter Becker to Jimi Hendrix.
Rock historians also believe their song Taurus inspired Led Zepplin’s Stairway to Heaven.
Randy died at the age of 45 on January 2, 1997.
He was swimming in Molokai, Hawaii when a riptide came in.
He heroically swam to save his son Quinn but couldn’t save himself.
Cass Elliot “Mama” Cass Elliot was one of the members
of the Mamas and the Papas.
Her most famous song with them was Dream a Little Dream of Me.
She then had a fruitful solo career when the group broke up with hits such as Make Your
Own Kind of Music and It’s Getting Better.
Cass died on July 29, 1974.
There was a long-standing rumor that she choked on a ham sandwich.
The true cause was fatty myocardial degeneration from obesity.
Johnny Thunders Johnny Thunders was the guitarist for the
New York Dolls.
He died on April 23, 1991.
The truth was even stranger than the rumors.
His body was eventually discovered in the St. Peter House in New Orleans.
The apartment was ransacked with some of his possessions missing.
Rigor mortis had set in.
His body was underneath a coffee table in an unnatural, pretzel-like shape.
An autopsy put to bed any ideas that he’d taken fatal doses of drugs.
It did show a surprising finding; he had advanced leukemia.
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Keep watching to learn about more strange and tragic deaths.
Sid Vicious Sid Vicious was the bassist for the Sex Pistols.
He found fame but reached his lowest moment when he was to stand trial for murdering his
girlfriend Nancy Spungen.
It turned out that he’d never live to see the court date.
He was released on bail.
His mother Anne allegedly delivered heroin to his apartment even though he’d been clean
the entire time.
He overdosed on February 2, 1979.
Anne admitted it in an interview before she died in 1996.
That confession was later brought into question, making the death even more mysterious.
Dennis Wilson Dennis was the drummer for the Beach Boys.
He liked to live fast and didn’t always think before he acted.
In the rare moments when he did slow down, he went to his yacht at Marina Del Ray.
He died at the age of 39 on December 28, 1983.
He got out of the hospital after a fight and then began drinking all day.
He still thought he could swim well enough to gather some items he’d thrown overboard
from the yacht three years ago but drowned trying.
“Dimebag” Darrell Abbott “Dimebag” Darrel founded the metal band
Pantera with his brother Vinnie Paul.
They peaked in the 90s when their third album, Far Beyond Driven, reached #1 on the Billboard
200.
As often seems to be the case, their worst tragedy came after their biggest success.
Darrell died at the age of 38 on December 8, 2004.
He was playing with his new act Damageplan in Ohio when former marine Nathan Gale shot
him several times in the head.
He also killed four more people and wounded seven others before police shot and killed
him.
Thousands of fans went to Darrel’s memorial.
Gene Simmons donated a Kiss Kasket and Eddie a 1979 Charvel Bumblbee guitar to be buried
with him.
Randy Rhoades Randy was educated in classic guitar.
He then joined Quiet Riot before going to Ozzy Osbourne’s solo band.
That was where he played on hits such as Crazy Train and Mr. Crowley and the multi-platinum
Blizzard of Ozz album.
Then it all came crashing down in the strangest of ways.
Randy died at the age of 25 on March 19, 1982.
Their tour bus had to stop to repair the air conditioner.
The driver, Andrew Aycock, was also an ex-pilot and saw a nearby airstrip.
He decided to borrow a plane and get as close as possible to or “buzz” the tour bus
without hitting it.
He, Randy, and makeup artist Rachel Youngblood were all on board.
One of the plane’s wings clipped the bus and the plane plowed into the garage, killing
all of them instantly.
Bobby Fuller Bobby Fuller was born in Texas but moved to
Los Angeles in 1964 with The Bobby Fuller Four.
They were signed to Mustang Records and started hitting the charts.
Their first Top 40 was Let Her Dance, but I Fought the Law peaked at #9.
Bobby died only a few months later at the age of 23 on July 18, 1966.
He was found in his dead mother’s car.
He was surrounded by gas vapors but had no signs of bodily harm.
The death was ruled an accidental suicide.
Many don’t believe that story.
They think he was murdered and the gas served as a cover-up.
His bandmates Jim Reese even thinks Charles Manson could be involved, but there’s no
evidence to prove it.
Jeff Porcaro Jeff was a member of the band Toto.
He unfortunately never lived to see their song Africa come back into fame thanks to
the internet in recent years.
He died at the age of 38 on August 5, 1992.
He’d allegedly been spraying insecticide in his garden when he had an allergic reaction.
The official cause of death was ruled a heart attack from cocaine abuse.
His family denies this and says that he used but didn’t abuse the drug.
Fellow band members agree.
Guitarist Steve Lukather also notes that Jeff had a congenital heart disease that killed
two of his uncles before they were 40.
Jeff Buckley Jeff followed in the shoes of his father Tim
Buckley.
He became a guitarist, singer, and songwriter.
Jeff died at the age of 30 on May 29, 1997.
He wore clothes and boots in the Wolf River Harbor near Memphis.
The band’s roadie Keith Foti was on the banks when he realized Jeff had disappeared.
Locals finally found his body on June 4.
The autopsy found no sign of drugs or alcohol.
Stiv Bators Stiv Bators was the vocalist for The Dead
Boys and Lords of the New Church.
He had a penchant for stunts and almost died on stage when one went wrong.
He was pronounced dead for several minutes but somehow survived.
His actual death at the age of 40 on June 4, 1990, wasn’t as extreme.
He was run over by a taxi in Paris and went to the hospital.
He wasn’t able to see a doctor for hours but died in his sleep as a result of a concussion.
Who’s your favorite fallen rockstar?
Let us know in the comments below.