Winehouse checked back into rehab in the spring of 2011, emerging in May with hope of putting it all back together. But her final performance was a shambolic disaster in Belgrade, Serbia, in early June. The world watched as Winehouse malfunctioned, her saga growing sadder by the month. She fainted in the summer of 2008 and was diagnosed with emphysema, a shocking warning that more smoking and drinking would permanently ruin her natural gifts.
- Although the official cause of death for Cobain was suicide, it was determined that this suicide was driven by accessive heroin use, which may have altered his thinking.
- Variceal bleeding was the cause of death in Bill Evans, a lyrical pianist.
- Heavy drinking is defined as consuming more than seven drinks a week for women and more than 14 drinks a week for men.
- Her longstanding alcohol abuse led to her death in 1984 of liver failure at the age of 57.
- It’s always sad hearing about someone’s passing, whether they were close to you or not.
- Born John Ritchie, Vicious gained fame later in life as the focal points of a band spiritually linked with the emergence of British punk rock.
Musicians Lost to Drug Overdose
David Cassidy was a teen idol on The Partridge Family in the Substance abuse early. In 2017, he was hospitalized with liver and kidney failure at the age of 67. According to his daughter, Cassidy’s last words were “So much wasted time.” British actress Yootha Joyce found success in her work on British television, appearing in such productions as Man About the House and George and Mildred. She would reportedly consume a half bottle of brandy every day for ten years leading up to the day in 1980 when she succumbed to liver failure the age 53.
List of deaths through alcohol
Payne had been open about his addiction and mental health issues in previous interviews, telling Steven Barlett on “The Diary of a CEO” podcast that many of his days were filled with “pills and booze.” Jani Lane (Feb. 1, 1964 – Aug. 11, 2011) was the lead singer and main songwriter for the band Warrant. Adam Clayton (born March 13, 1960) is an Irish musician who is the bass guitarist of the rock band U2. According to the autopsy performed on Whitley, he had an alcohol level of 0.47 in his bloodstream.
Inside Amy Winehouse’s Downward Spiral and Tragic Death
Chart one (below) plots the ages at death for male and female popular musicians against the ages of death for males and females in the general US population. Both male and female mortality curves far exceeded those for the general population up to the age of 65. Kurt Cobain was a singer, songwriter, and musician and formed the rock band, Nirvana. He was battling with heroin before and during his relationship with Courtney Love. He started using more while dating Courtney, and they both became fully addicted to heroin.
- Frank, Winehouse’s first album, came out in 2003 when she was only 20 years old.
- The singer Billie Holiday was a key influence in both jazz and popular music in the 1940s and 1950s, but this shining star lived a hard life.
- Paramedics found her body at her home with empty vodka bottles on the floor.
Kurt Cobain was an instrumental figure in the early 90s grunge movement as the lead singer and guitarist of Nirvana. Mac Miller, born Malcolm James McCormick, was a rapper with several albums, and had hit songs including “The Way,” with his one-time girlfriend Ariana Grande. Bobby Timmons (Dec. 19, 1935 – March 1, 1974) was a jazz pianist and composer. He died in a nursing home because his alcoholism left him unable to care for himself. Chet Baker (Dec. 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was a jazz trumpeter and singer. Near the end of his career, he could barely play or sing because of his alcoholism.
Keith Moon
On September 24th, 1980, Led Zeppelin started rehearsals for their North American tour. Bonham stopped for breakfast on the way there, where he drank four quadruple screwdrivers (vodka with orange juice). He continued to drink throughout rehearsals and after 12-hours of drinking, was put to sleep on his side by his assistant. Bonham was found unconscious the next morning, and after an attempt to wake up, they realized musicians who died from alcohol he had passed in his sleep from inhalation of vomit. Behind his success in music, Jackie Keith Whitley was struggling with his alcoholism. He admitted his problem in an interview, wherein he said, “It was a matter of life and death. If I hadn’t stopped drinking, I don’t think I’d be alive today. I did so many crazy things while drinking” (via AP News).
John Bonham
As Led Zeppelin scaled the heights of rock stardom, so did Bonham’s drinking. The 20-time All-Star New York Yankee stated that his drinking hurt him both professionally and personally. Mantle received a liver transplant because of hepatitis and cirrhosis. The operation was initially success, but the cancer had already spread. In 1971, at age 27, he was living in Paris with his girlfriend, Pamela Courson, who found him dead in their bathtub.
