Random Famous Rock Bands That Were Struck By Horrifying and Violent Tragedies (10 items)

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  (#7) Grateful Dead

  • Blues-rock, Rock music, Folk rock, Acid rock, Jam band, Psychedelic rock, Psychedelic music

  The Grateful Dead are one of rock's most beloved bands, thanks to their epic live shows and obsessive followers. However, you would never, ever want to be the band's keyboardist. 

  Beginning with Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, who left the band due to cirrhosis of the liver (he died in 1973), the revolving door swung around and around. Keith Godchaux replaced Pigpen, left the band in 1979, and died in a car accident the next year. Brent Mydland replaced him, only to die in 1990 from a drug overdose. Vince Welnick took over, and was in the position until Jerry Garcia's death in 1995. Welnick overcame cancer and bouts with severe depression before committing suicide in 2006.

  Then there's Jerry Garcia. The guitarist died from a heart attack in 1995. In his pre-Dead days, Garcia lost two-thirds of his middle right finger due to a woodcutting accident.  When he was four. Garcia had a huge appetite for drugs, most notably heroin, cocaine, and LSD. His hard-charging days resulted in a four-day diabetic coma in 1986. 
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  (#10) Red Hot Chili Peppers

  • Alternative Rock, Funk Metal

  It's easy to forget how out of control the Red Hot Chili Peppers were in the '80s and '90s, given the band's post-Californication shift to warm, cuddly cultural touchstones. From rampant drug use to insane sexual exploits, the band faced a ton of strife, much of which detailed in Anthony Kiedis's batsh*t insane autobiography Scar Tissue.

  Guitarist Hillel Slovak died of a heroin overdose, which led to then-drummer Jack Irons having a nervous breakdown. Replacement guitarist John Frusciante, developed a raging heroin addiction upon leaving the band in the early '90s. Lead vocalist Anthony Kiedis battled heroin addition for decades. In his book he writes of shooting up in his mid-40s in seedy motels with models half his age while the band was playing stadiums. 

  Drugs and mental breakdowns, yet the band forges on in the 21st century. 
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  (#6) Alice in Chains

  • Rock music, Grunge, Heavy metal, Alternative rock, Traditional heavy metal, Sludge metal, Alternative metal, Hard rock

  The suicide of Kurt Cobain (a member of the 27 club) and overdose of Mother Love Bone vocalist Andrew Wood are the most well-known tragedies of the Seattle scene, but peers Alice in Chains suffered a far more protracted battle with its demons. Most of this is chronicled in the band's music, lyrics, and song and album titles, which deal overtly with drug addiction. 

  In 2002, vocalist Layne Staley, a long-suffering addict, retreated to his Seattle apartment to do heroin until he died. When his body was found (more than a week after he died), it weighed only 86 pounds and was already decomposing. Bassist Mike Starr suffered a similar fate, albeit nearly a decade later. He died from a drug overdose in 2011 in Salt Lake City.

  While the grunge icons are still around, they exist in a diminished state. Of the original line up, only guitarist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney remain. The two recruited a new vocalist and bass player and recorded music that has been received well by both fans and critics. 
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  (#2) AC/DC

  • Blues-rock, Boogie rock, Rock music, Heavy metal, Rock and roll, Hard rock

  Hard rock legends AC/DC are one of the few bands to become even more popular as the years wore on, despite the tragedy that has circled the group since the '80s. Lead singer Bon Scott died from choking on his own vomit in early 1980. This might sink a lesser band, but AC/DC persevered, and soared to new heights. In the 2010s, after decades of mega success, things got weird. In 2014, guitarist Malcolm Young left the band, feeling the effects of dementia. Young moved into a nursing home, having completely lost his short-term memory. Singer Brian Johnson then left because he was losing his hearing.

  Then there's the saga of drummer Phil Rudd. In 2014, Rudd was arrested for attempted murder (he was accused of trying to hire a hitman), as well as meth and pot possession. His behavior during sessions for the band's 2014 album Rock or Bust was erratic, but no one expected he'd take such a dark turn.

  All said and done, Angus Young is the only member of the band's seminal line up still in the band, and kinda-sorta still ticking.
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  (#3) The Beach Boys

  • Pop music, Rock music, Psychedelic pop, Traditional pop music, Country rock, Pop rock, Surf rock, Art rock, Baroque pop, Psychedelic rock, Surf music

  The Beach Boys are one of the greatest and most important American rock bands of all time. They also have a legendary history of not being the clean-cut, all-American boys they're made out to be. This group of relatives (three Wilson brothers and cousin Mike Love) and one friend (Al Jardine) were led by the tyrannical Murry Wilson, father to the brothers, who has long been accused of psychologically and physically abusing the band.

  On top of that, there are the legendary on-again off-again squabbles between Brian Wilson and Mike Love. Wilson, the perceived genius, had a long battle with mental illness and drug abuse that eroded his creativity. Love is known as many things, kind and gentle not among them. Following the band's 2012 tour, Love unceremoniously dumped Wilson in favor of his backing band, who proudly wave the Beach Boys flag without their most influential member.

  Brian's drug use in the '60s made him an icon and cemented him as a genius, but also melted his brain. The same can be said of his shrink, Dr. Eugene Landy, who gave Wilson enough pills during in late '80s to fry his brain even more. Landy was attempting to control Wilson to nefarious ends, and it took a new romantic interest - who Wilson married - to break the sordid relationship. 

  Meanwhile, Dennis Wilson was friends with the Manson family (as in Charles Manson) and even jammed with Manson. Allegedly, Wilson nearly produced and wrote music with the cult leader. Following this, Wilson drowned in 1983 while diving off his yacht while intoxicated. Finally, Carl Wilson died of cancer in 1998.
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  (#9) The Mamas & the Papas

  • Sunshine pop, Rock music, Psychedelic pop, Folk rock, Psychedelic rock

  They may appear to be an innocuous group of happy '60s hippies, but the Mamas & Papas went through some dark sh*t. Singer Cass Elliott battled weight issues until her death in 1974 from heart failure due to obesity. There's a long-standing sick joke she choked on a ham sandwich, but that isn't true.

  Vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter John Phillips had a checkered history. He was addicted to heroin for most of the '70s, and was arrested and convicted of conspiring to distribute narcotics in 1980. He spent a month in the big house in 1981. Phillips was accused of incest rape by his daughter Mackenzie, who alleged she had a sexual relationship with him for 10 years, which only ended when she got pregnant and didn't know whether he was the father. 

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