Donny Hathaway committed suicide at 33 years old.
Bob Stinson - Failure of some important organ (can’t remember if it was heart or liver) from years of abuse.
Mia Zapata- singer for the Seattle band The Gits. Murdered as she walked home from a bar. Never solved. Interesting article here
Another Tap Drummer - Choked to death on vomit, but not his own vomit.
Merle Watson, folk singer and son of folk legend Doc Watson, was crushed to death when a tractor he was driving overturned (supposedly, he’d injured his arm severely, and was driving to get help).
How could we forget the Pretenders trifecta? Guitarists James Honeyman-Scott and Pete Farnam died within a year (?) of each other, and drummer Martin Chambers (I think that was his name) died a few years back, leaving Chrissie Hynde as the sole surviving founding member.
I’m pretty sure Marvin Gaye was mentioned upthread, but what about his frequent partner Tammy Terrelle (died falling down a flight of stairs at her home)?
Spooky fact: Mama Cass Elliot died in the same apartment that Keith Moon died in six years later. :eek:
Opengrave: The latter Spinal Tap drummers died of spontaneous combustion. The original drummer (guys, help me out here with the name) died choking on someone else’s vomit.
( 
Damn, I can’t even type that without busting up!)
grendel72: “Death by misadventure” was also the official verdict in the Brian Jones case. Something tells me that “DbM” is a catchall meaning “We don’t f***ing know.”
I haven’t seen “Spinal Tap” in ages, but as I recall…
Drummer #1 was Stumpy Pepys, who died in a “bizarre gardening accident.”
Drummer #2 was Peter James-Bond, who choked to death on someone else’s vomit.
Drummer #3 was Eric “Stumpy Joe” Childs, who spontaneously combusted.
Notice the 3 Stooges theme in drummers (the last drummer was Joe Besser).
Didn’t see this yet… what about the guy from Milli Vanilli? Suicide, IIRC.
Argh, you beat me to it. “In these shoes?”
John Panozza, drummer, Styx. I don’t think it was natural causes, but I can’t remember exactly how he died.
I’m pretty sure John Panozza died of liver failure. He was an alcoholic.
Delta-9: Now that you mention it, I believe that’s right.
Eric Carr - the second drummer in KISS: Cancer in the brain and near the heart. Not believed to be substance of tobacco related.
Randy Castillo - Ozzy Osbourne band, Motley Crue: died a month or two ago of some natural cause. I can’t remember what.
Country Dick Montana of The Beat Farmers: a heart attack right on stage.
Cozy Powell - drummer with Black Sabbath and many others: car crash. One story I heard is that he was driving while talking dirty to his wife on a cell phone. You can imagine what happed then.
Beatmaster V, drummer in Body Count: Leukemia.
Robbin Crosby of Ratt: AIDS just a few weeks ago.
Didn’t one of The Village People die?
Wow Harvey I hadn’t heard about Robbin Crosby. Ratt was the first concert I ever got to go to by myself.
That reminds me of another HIV death, Eazy-E from NWA.
I wonder how many more of those 80’s bands are going to lose people to AIDS. I can’t believe no one in Motley Crue got it, considering their lifestyle.
Bob Marley died of skin cancer anyway.
actually, pretty close. After a night of binge drinking, Bon fell asleep reclined in his car seat. He vomitied,then chocked to death on it.
Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy died of an OD in the mid 80s. And damn I was beaten to the Spinal Tap.
Terry Kath of Chicago did accidentally shoot himself back in 1978.
RIP Randy Rhoads, Lynyrd Skynyrd (plane crash)
I feel compelled to correct you. Ozzy was on the tour bus, Randy was on the plane with the makeup girl, and if my memory serves me, the manager.
Ozzy then scrambled from the bus which was clipped by the plane before it went into a house and rushed into the burning house trying to save Randy, only managing to save an old blind guy though. Randy was believed to of died on impact.
I see that you are right. Apparently, it started on his big toe! Kind of hard to see how that would be related to substance abuse.
Capt Murdock, are you sure about Martin Chambers of the Pretenders? I am having trouble finding confirmation, although Lord knows those Pretenders were dropping like flies for a while there.
jk1245, I found a link that said Bob Stinson died of an overdose, but I don’t have it handy now.
I see that you are right. Apparently, it started on his big toe! That explains why it killed him at such a young age…melanomas can be very aggressive. Kind of hard to see how that would be related to substance abuse.
Capt Murdock, are you sure about Martin Chambers of the Pretenders? I am having trouble finding confirmation, although Lord knows those Pretenders were dropping like flies for a while there.
jk1245, I found a link that said Bob Stinson died of an overdose, but I don’t have it handy now.
Cholo quote:
Glenn Buxton (Alice Cooper Group) died a few years ago from poor health. Most likely alcohol related.
endquote
That sucks. I remember seeing Alice Cooper at Farmington State Teachers College in Maine in…1971?..and that show would have bombed if it hadn’t have been for his playing and presence on stage. It did help, however, that he had some good hits to play and an entertaining front man to play to.