Yeah, that's a pretty provocative thread title, but sex, drugs, and rock and roll seem to go along as part of this unholy trinity (but we won't discuss the first one). But which artists were or are associated with a certain drug of choice, and often not with pleasant results?

Let us take a look. Of course, none of this is an endorsement in any way.

Heroin:

For the past several decades, this particular vile opioid was the bane of many rockers' existence, many of whom had died from it. Others went through severe addictions from which they successfully conquered. Here is a list of many who became slave to the Devil's needle:

Layne Staley: The original lead singer of Alice In Chains, one of the bands which put Seattle "grunge" on the map (though they began as a rather dark glam band in the late 80's) made a career out of documenting his harrowing addictions on the band's albums, particularly 1992's "Dirt". After the band's final album with him in 1995, the band went on an indefinite hiatus while Staley languished from his habit. His health deteriorated before he was found dead in April 2002 in his University District in Seattle. He had been missing for weeks, and coroners determined he may have had died on the anniversary of Kurt Cobain's suicide earlier that month.

Kurt Cobain: It is no secret that Nirvana's Kurt Cobain was addicted to heroin, which he began taking to treat his upset stomach which made it hard for him to eat. Tragically, he took an exceptionally lethal dose when he used the shotgun which ended his life. Was the dose used to soften the blow? In any case, the death of Nirvana's frontman underscored the grim reality of Seattle's affinity with heroin. And he was not alone in this.

Andrew Wood: The first (near) star of the rising Seattle scene in the late 1980's was the lead singer of Mother Love Bone, Andrew Wood, a flamboyant frontman whose death from an overdose in early 1990 coincided with the release of the band's first album. Mother Love Bone was slated to put Seattle on the map, but unfortunately, tragedy took place instead. However, the surviving members eventually regrouped, with a new lead singer under the name which would rival Nirvana's success in the coming year: Pearl Jam.

Phil Anselmo: The lead singer of Texas' own "Cowboys From Hell" Pantera fronted a rising band with an intense performance. They were the lone holdouts of the thrash metal/"power groove" genre in the early/mid 90's when Anselmo then complained of back injuries sustained from his extreme energetic live show. His doctors urged him to take time off to recover. Anselmo, seeking a "second opinion", decided to take heroin during the tour for the band's "Far Beyond Driven" tour. His bandmates were unaware of his activities until the day of the band's homecoming show in 1996 when they found out he was dying of a potentially lethal dose to where his body turned blue. He was fortunately revived, but his addiction eventually led to the breakup of Pantera, and according to some members of the band and insiders, was to blame for the tragic shooting and death of Dimebag Darrell at a DamagePlan by a deranged fan.

Eric Clapton: "Slowhand"'s love for George Harrison's wife Patty Boyd affected Clapton so severely that he took heroin to cope with it. He eventually overcame his addiction.

Boy George: Culture Club's lead singer was embroiled in controversy when some persons close to him had either died or were found addicted to heroin at his premises during the 80's. For years, Boy George battled his addiction to heroin, often being seen nodding off inexplicably during filmed interviews. As of last note, he appears to have overcome his addictions.

There are many other users and victims of heroin, but this is a list of a few major figures.

Cocaine:

This has been a favorite of many rockers due to its effects of increased energy and euphoria, often a sense of "invincibility" and intense pleasure.

Black Sabbath: In 1972, while recording their "Black Sabbath Vol. 4" album in Los Angeles, the band became extremely engrossed in rampant cocaine abuse during and after the sessions. This affected the quality of the music, which yielded one major song "Snowblind", based on their fascination for the drug ("Snow" = cocaine). On the album's liner notes, the band thanked the "COKE-Cola Company of Los Angeles". But, as drummer Bill Ward eventually noted, their massive experimentation in many ways the beginning of the end for the band. The band would face creative block and frustration, as well as money problems, during the coming year until the next album.

David Bowie: During the mid-70's, during the recording of "Station To Station", David Bowie was so addicted to the powdery drug that he in fact did bowls of it, according to friends and insiders such a Mick Jagger. His cocaine use was so prevalent that it affected his recording and performance.

Why do rich and famous musicians turn to drugs? (Celebrities, too.)

I would be satisfied being rich and famous!

Why do rich and famous musicians turn to drugs? (Celebrities, too.)

I would be satisfied being rich and famous!
Fortunately, Ted Nugent, a proud conservative, has never used drugs, and has a low opinion of those who do.

I think sometimes that people who are rich and famous feel they have to use drugs to deal with their fame and wealth, or are just bored and looking for things to entertain themselves.

Fortunately, Ted Nugent, a proud conservative, has never used drugs, and has a low opinion of those who do.

Ted Nugent sucks hard core and he's also a weirdo koo koo bird. I don't care what he has to say about anything.

More rockers who turned to cocaine:

Steven Tyler of Aerosmith

Elton John

Eric Clapton (his hit "Cocaine" was in fact written by blues rocker JJ Cale)

This is a very partial list, but who HASN'T touched in rock and roll?

Ted Nugent sucks hard core and he's also a weirdo koo koo bird. I don't care what he has to say about anything.

But we all listened to him in the 70's and thought he was great. :cool: Let's just say he is outspoken. For Ted Nugent to say what he does in his online commentaries is pretty tame compared to what a lot of people in rock and roll say due to drugs and the like.

But we all listened to him in the 70's and thought he was great. :cool: Let's just say he is outspoken. For Ted Nugent to say what he does in his online commentaries is pretty tame compared to what a lot of people in rock and roll say due to drugs and the like.
I never thought he was great. I always thought his music sucked, so I didn't like him then, but once I found out that he would kill innocent animals with a bow and arrow, I hated him.

So I never liked him anyway.

LSD:

LSD, the German acronym for lysergic acid diethlamide, is one of the most powerful and potent psychedelics ever created. Formed from ergot fungus, the short term for the drug, acid, lent its name to a subgenre of rock and roll in the '60's, "acid rock", where music was created to replicate the effects of its use. Many rockers and fans claimed to experience God by using it.

Many artists were credited with popularizing it:

The Beatles --changed rock and roll from "innocent" bubblegum pop-rock in the mid-60's when they began to discover that the drug's psychedelic properties gave them the ability to think deeper than before and experience more.. The song "Tomorrow Never Knows" is thought of as being one of the first acid-rock songs.

Syd Barrett --Pink Floyd's original guitarist was an eccentric, gifted type who was ejected from the band after the release of their first album, "Piper At the Gates Of Dawn", in 1968, due to his unstable behavior from LSD. The drug made him practically insane and unable to focus. After he left the band, he attempted a failed attempt at a solo music career and eventually became a recluse until his death in 2006. Many believed he had already died years before. Pink Floyd wrote many songs in tribute to him, including "Shine On You Crazy Diamond".

Barrett's performances were so hampered by his excessive use of LSD that he would slather a huge handful of Brylcreme into his hair, and under the hot lights onstage, it would melt into his face and create a bizarre, glazed look, making him appear unearthly. Often while under the influence of the drug, he would simply play one chord over and over, completely disconnected from the rest of the band, who became exasperated with him.

LSD (continued):

Events such as Woodstock were a complete heyday for the use of drugs such as LSD. It was reported that Roger Daltrey of The Who was "tripping balls" heavily while the band performed their late night performance. Carlos Santana insisted on playing while completely stoned during his set. Rumors abounded that water and backstage beverages were spiked with LSD.

Did Bon Scott (ACDC) die of drugs or alcohol?

Marijuana

As opposed to the other illicit pharmaceuticals above, pot has been lauded as a more organic psychedelic substance. Many persons applauded the legalization, and pending legalization in some states, citing that it is "safer" than alcohol.

Here is a list of a few bands and performers who testify to its importance:

Black Sabbath --The band's third album "Master Of Reality" opens with guitarist Tony Iommi coughing loudly while smoking a joint in the beginning song "Sweet Leaf". The track has been a sort of "stoner anthem" for decades, with a heavy, sluggish, drone-y feel. The song's title was in fact taken from a British cigarette brand called Sweet Afton.

Interestingly, there is a brand of tea on the market now named Sweet Leaf. Intentional?

Dimebag Darrel --the late guitarist of Pantera, whose name was originally Darrel Abbott, was nicknamed Dimebag after his tendency to purchase a ten-dollar bag of marijuana locally (a "dimebag"). After the band was signed to a major label, in the press, Dime was always referred to the more "family-friendly" moniker "Diamond Darrell", until he insisted on changing it to Dimebag. He championed weed as being a safer, more organic substance and was completely opposed to the use of harder drugs. He said he had seen too many casualties from harder drug use, including his own bandmate Phil Anselmo with his use of heroin.

On a related note to a previous category:

Ants

As a matter of fact, in one instance live insects were the drug of choice for one famous rock and roll libertine: Ozzy Osbourne. In 1984, during his tour where Motley Crue opened for him, while bassist Nikki Sixx of the Crue was drinking and snorting cocaine, Ozzy, clearly intoxicated, reportedly got off the tour bus and proceeded to snort up a line of ants by the roadside.

It was the best of times, it was the best of times.

Did Bon Scott (ACDC) die of drugs or alcohol?
Alcohol

Fortunately, Ted Nugent, a proud conservative, has never used drugs, and has a low opinion of those who do.

I think sometimes that people who are rich and famous feel they have to use drugs to deal with their fame and wealth, or are just bored and looking for things to entertain themselves.
Yes, that's true. Some (wisely) avoid drugs.

Right, many used drugs due to being bored and maybe thinking that they can't be harmed.

David Cassidy- Heavy alcohol drinker and the poor guy as we know succumbed to his addiction and he died! :(

Also Alice Cooper was a heavy drinker too !

Why do rich and famous musicians turn to drugs? (Celebrities, too.)

I would be satisfied being rich and famous!


That's just it. They are TOO rich!! Having so much money they can afford these drugs (Heroin and cocaine aren't cheep) and end up abusing them. Plus lots of parties they go to where drugs are being used and are plentiful . And their schedules . Not having to do a 9-5 type work schedule , they don't have to be up early in the morning! ;)

David Cassidy- Heavy alcohol drinker and the poor guy as we know succumbed to his addiction and he died! :(

Also Alice Cooper was a heavy drinker too !
And we're going to get to The Coop's battle with the bottle in our next installment of "DRUGS!!!!!!!!!!!" Stay tuned!!!!!!!!

And now for the next major drug in the list of substances abused by rock artists:

Alcohol

Yes, alcohol IS a drug, the most prevalent drug known since the dawn of time. Alcohol is legal and is easily purchased, though easily abused. The toxic relationship between rockers and alcohol has been repeatedly documented.

Alice Cooper: As previously mentioned, the pioneering shock rocker had an outstanding obsession with the bottle all through the 70's. In fact, he was so addicted that he drank copious amounts of booze for seven days straight in the late 70's. His addiction was so severe that at the end of this binge he realized he needed help--badly. To this end, he had himself committed to an insane asylum.
Alice Cooper had reached such a level of unheard of success by that time. In the mid-70's, he disbanded the band that had been his namesake since the late 60's and became a Hollywood figure, still making music and becoming a celebrity. But he had hit bottom by decade's end, and at the end of his stay with a clean bill of health, he recorded 1979's "From the Inside" album which documented his stay in the asylum. The stage set for this tour was very entertaining--straight out of Tinseltown, complete with dancing liquor bottles and scary nurses--and Alice in a straight-jacket in solitary.

For the next several years, Alice's career languished with albums that went nowhere. However, by 1986, The Coop launched a hugely successful comeback tour and album and remained on the charts for the next several years, even maintaining an active career to this day. He successfully fought his alcohol addiction to where he was able to mentor Dave Mustaine of Megadeth in dealing with his own addictions to alcohol.

Bon Scott: AC/DC's main frontman of the 1970's was found dead of acute alcohol poisoning in February 1980. He was a party-hearty, hard-drinking Scotsman who felt he was impenetrable to the dangers of excessive alchohol consumption. He and his band were on the verge of long-sought-after stardom with their latest album "Highway To Hell" when he was placed in a car to sleep off a night of heavy drinking--from which he never awoke. The authorities claimed he was a "captain of his own destiny", to suggest there was no foul play involved.
The band was devastated at his death, but at his funeral, Bon's father urged the band to keep going on. The band took his advice, and due to this, the band's next album, "Back In Black", with new singer Brian Johnson, firmly placed the band on the rock and roll map and became one of the greatest albums of all time with the band becoming THE greatest rock act in practically ever.

Ozzy Osbourne: By the end of the 1970's, Black Sabbath's frontman was a complete basket case who could barely function due to his battles with drugs and alcohol. The band made the difficult decision to fire him, which sent Ozzy into a complete self-destructive tailspin. Hunkered down in an L.A. hotel in a reclusive state, Ozzy proceeded to drown his sorrows in alcohol with plenty of cocaine. He felt his days as a rock icon were over--but fortunately, Sharon Arden, daughter of music mogul Don Arden, paid him a visit to proceed chewing him out for reckless spending of money owed them. She then saw his own personal squalor and devastation. Feeling compassion, she took him under her wing and announced she wanted to manage him as an artist. And the rest, with the doves, bats, ants, and taking a leak on the Alamo, is history.
Ozzy's initial claim to notoriety musically was a song from his first solo album "Blizzard Of Ozz" titled "Suicide Solution". Contrary to what American audiences such as certain Washington wives of politicos were prone to think, the solution in the title did not mean a way to solve a problem, to bring about a certain result, but, in chemistry, particularly in Britain, a solution is another name for a chemical. The song lyrics describe the feeling of helplessness one feels in alcohol addiction. Later that decade, Tipper Gore, wife of Senator Al Gore, felt the need to vilify Ozzy's intentions by claiming he was "promoting suicide" with the song. A lawsuit was eventually brought against Ozzy for the self-inflicted death of one young man, which was later dismissed (the victim had a copy of Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" on the turntable, which did not have the song on the album, yet the parents felt the need for "guilt by association").
There were stories that Ozzy was in fact writing about Bon Scott's death from alcohol, or some anonymous friend--when it was most likely about Ozzy's dark days at the end of the 70's where he medicated himself by the bottle. But during the 80's, Ozzy's excessive alcohol consumption continued with often bizarre results. Like the wearing of a dress in public, among other incidents....

"Sweet Leaf" by Black Sabbath is currently playing on the radio now.

More rockers known for heroin use:

Keith Richards: The Stones' guitarist of course had legendary battles with drugs. It is remarkable that he is still alive in his 70's. But in the 70's, his addiction to heroin nearly cost him his career with a prison sentence. He was caught in Canada in 1977, charged with heroin possession "with intent to traffic". He was admitted into the U.S. for treatment for his addiction and his charge was reduced to simple possession.

It should be noted that many rockers did not have one preference for addiction to another. Many consumed pretty much all of the above.

Another hard drug that should be added to the growing list:

Methamphetamines

This potent and dangerously addictive drug has been in use by many for decades, many not in the music industry. Here is a list of rockers who notoriously partook of it:

Korn --the band which pioneered the NU-metal movement in the mid-90's claimed that their first album was recorded while they were all high on the drug. Which explains a lot.

Guitarist Brian "Head" Welch was so addicted that he chose to exit the band due to his habit and embrace born-again Christianity which he cited as the one factor which helped him overcome his toxic need for the drug. On his first Christian album he recorded a track called "Flush" which vividly depicted the effects of meth, including images of scantily clad women engaged in carnal embrace, among other other scenes. He also needed to give up the drug, he said, for the sake of his young daughter.

Going back to a familiar vice:

Heroin:

Nikki Sixx--It is without question that Motley Crue's career had been marked by excessive consumption of drugs and alcohol. One notorious incident was when bassist Nikki Sixx was declared clinically dead in December 1987 after an overdose of heroin. Doctors and paramedics were fortunately able to save him by injecting adrenaline into him to revive his heart (Hence the Motley Crue top song "Kickstart My Heart"). His near-death experience did not stop him from overdosing again.
At first Sixx opposed the use of the drug, thinking heroin was for wasted junkies and derelicts on the street. But when he tried it, like many, he found the opioid very hard to shake. He became so strung out that he consumed shopping bags of candy bars to give him energy. After he was able to shake his addiction, he wrote a chronicle of his days with the drug in his own book called "The Heroin Diaries".

On a related note:

Alcohol:

Vince Neil--Tragedy involving substance abuse was no stranger to other members of Motley Crue: On December 8, 1984, which was to become an infamous date in rock and roll, Neil and his passenger Razzle, the drummer from up-and-coming Finnish glam metal band Hanoi Rocks, were making a beer run in downtown Los Angeles when they crashed into several other vehicles while driving under the influence. Razzle was killed in the collision while some of the passengers in the other cars received serious injuries. Outrage was sparked that Neil received a reduced sentence on the condition of "good behavior" in spite of charges of vehicular homicide. Was the fact that he was the lead vocalist of the country's most popular band at the time a factor in his being let go? Of course, very little changed in the band's behavior, though by the end of the decade, Motley Crue were touted as having "cleaned up their act" and gotten "clean and sober" in time for their "Dr. Feelgood" album, a more professionally-sounding album showing signs of improved playing.

Of course, that phase would not exactly last.

There are definitely a lot of singers/band members who get hooked on drugs and alcohol. A couple of guys I know who play in a local band drink alcohol and take speed to increase their stamina while playing. They say it helps them but I suppose it's really just a crutch.

LSD Addicts...

Brian Wilson-He got turned-on to LSD in the mid-60's which gave him the ideas of "Pet Sounds" and "Smile". However...he would freak-out sometimes because of some bad acid trips. Brian would even say that his father was debugging his house when Murray Wilson wasn't even there!

Jimi Hendrix-He took acid while taking a bath in his house and he got the idea for "Purple Haze".

The Moody Blues-With the exception of bassist John Lodge, The Moodies had some acid trips and would be their drug in the late-60's.

Donovan-He too took LSD and his "Sunshine Superman" album can prove he had a few acid trips.

There are definitely a lot of singers/band members who get hooked on drugs and alcohol. A couple of guys I know who play in a local band drink alcohol and take speed to increase their stamina while playing. They say it helps them but I suppose it's really just a crutch.
Speed and alcohol does NOT sound like a safe combination!!!

Heroin addicts...

John Lennon...in the late 60's, Lennon took Heroin. Mccartney did too, but only once.

Janis Joplin...she died after taking heroin. Though more of a boozehound, it was heroin that took her!

James Taylor...he struggled with drug problems a lot. his song "Fire and Rain" says it all...

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Speed and alcohol does NOT sound like a safe combination!!!


Doesn't sound safe to me either but they are grown men in their late 40's, so I guess they know the consequences.