list of drug-related deaths

The following is a list of notable people who have died from drug-related causes. Deaths caused by alcohol and caffeine are included. See also: Lists of people by cause of death.

A

Nick Adams - actor
Dave Alexander - of The Stooges
Rick Allen - of Asylum
GG Allin - punk musician, heroin
West Arkeen - of Outpatience, and songwriter, heroin
Howard Arkley - painter
Arlus - of the Blunt Stitches

B

Deford Bailey - country musician
Chet Baker - jazz trumpeter and singer
Florence Ballard - of The Supremes, cardiac arrest strongly exacerbated by long-term drug abuse
Honor de Balzac - caffeine poisoning from drinking over forty cups of coffee a day
Lester Bangs - musician, writer, overdose of painkillers, possibly accidental
Jean-Michel Basquiat - painter
Ludwig van Beethoven - classical musician, note: alcohol abuse led to the serious health problems that caused his death
Bix Beiderbecke - jazz musician
John Belushi - of the Blues Brothers, actor, and comedian - heroin and cocaine
Bunny Berigan
Sonny Berman - jazz musician
Wes Berggren - of Tripping Daisy
Leah Betts - British schoolgirl, ecstasy related
Len Bias - basketball star; died of cocaine overdose before ever playing in the NBA
Dave Bidwell - of the Pink Fairies, Chicken Shack, Savoy Brown
Matty Blag - of Blaggers I.T.A.
Mike Bloomfield - blues guitarist, heroin
Tommy Bolin - of Deep Purple
John Bonham - of Led Zeppelin, inhalation of own vomit; believed to be alcohol-related
James Booker - musician, heroin
Erik Brodreskift - of Borknagar
Herman Brood - musician
Dennis Brown - musician
Lenny Bruce - comedian, heroin, found dead with a needle in his arm
Robert Buck - of 10,000 Maniacs
Tim Buckley - rock and roll musician, heroin
Lester Butler - harpist, of the Red Devils, heroin
Paul Butterfield - American blues musician

C

Toy Caldwell - of Marshall Tucker Band
Ken Caminiti - former Major League Baseball player; acute cocaine and opiates intoxication
Alex Campbell - musician
Skip Candelori - of Turning Point
Herb Caro - saxophoneist, clarinetist, heroin
Leroy Carr - blues musician
Miss Christine - of the GTOs
Michael Clarke - of the Byrds
Steve Clarke - of Def Leppard
Will Clay - of The Toys
Montgomery Clift - actor
Kurt Cobain - Nirvana singer and guitarist, gunshot wound with fatal amount of heroin in system
Brian Cole - of the Association
Allen Collins - of Lynyrd Skynyrd
Cowboy - of Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five
Carl Crack - of Atari Teenage Riot
Darby Crash - punk musician, of the Germs, heroin
Todd Crew - of the Drunk Fux and Jetboy
Robbin Crosby - of Ratt, contracted HIV as a result of long-time heroin addiction and died of AIDS

D

Dalida - singer, barbiturates
Dorothy Dandridge - actress, singer
Jesse Ed Davis - guitarist, session musician, heroin
Jeanine Deckers - the Singing Nun
Sheik Sayid Darwish, Egyptian composer and father of Arab popular music, cocaine
Rick Dey - of the Vejtables, February Sunshine, the Wilde Knights and the Merry-Go-Round
DJ Screw - musician, codeine
Tommy Dorsey - jazz musician and bandleader, choked to death while sleeping with the aid of drugs
John Dougherty - of Flipper
Nick Drake - musician
Bobby Driscoll - actor

E

F

Chris Farley - comedian
Pete Farnden - of the Pretenders
Rainer Werner Fassbinder - playwright, director
W.C. Fields - American performer and actor
Keith Ferguson - of the Fabulous Thunderbirds
Tom Foote - of the Devices and the Loco Gringos

G

Rory Gallagher - of Taste
Jerry Garcia - of the Grateful Dead, cardiac arrest strongly exacerbated by longtime heroin abuse
Paul Gardiner - of Gary Numan's Tubeway Army
Judy Garland - American actress
Duck Geottel - of Skinny Puppy, heroin
Andy Gibb - singer, younger brother of the Bee Gees; cardiac damage strongly exacerbated by cocaine and alcohol abuse
Candy Givens - of Zephyr
Alexander Godunov - Actor, died of alcoholism at 45
Dwayne Goettel - heroin
Gribouille - French singer
Stacy Guess - of the Squirrel Nut Zippers
Danny Gatton - suicide

H

Paul Hammond - of Atomic Rooster
Bobby Hatfield - of the Righteous Brothers, heart attack triggered by cocaine overdose
Tim Hardin - heroin
Wynonie Harris - blues singer, alcohol poisoning
George Harrison - of the Beatles, heavy tobacco user, died of lung cancer
Alex Harvey - of The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, liver damage caused by alcohol abuse
Eddie Hazel - guitarist, of the P-funk collective
Mitch Hedburg - American Comedian
Helno - of Les Negresses Vertes
Margaux Hemingway - actress
Jimi Hendrix - rock and roll musician, respiratory arrest caused by barbiturate overdose
Gregory Herbet - of Blood, Sweat & Tears
Bob Hite - of Canned Heat
Randy Jo Hobbs - musician
El Duce Hoke - of the Mentors
Michael Holiday - singer
Billie Holiday - jazz singer
Hollywood Fats - musician
Gary Holton - of Heavy Metal Kids
James Honeyman-Scott - of the Pretenders
Shannon Hoon - of Blind Melon
Tim Hovey - actor
Baby Huey - singer
Phyllis Hyman - singer

I

J

Lorri Jackson - musician
Tom Jans - musician
Jolle (1953-1982), American born French singer
Brian Jones - of the Rolling Stones, drowned, very likely due to alcohol and barbiturate intoxication
Rob Jones - of Wonder Stuff
Janis Joplin - rock and roll and blues musician, heroin

K

John Kahn - of the Jerry Garcia Band
Jeff Kaplan - of Kaleidoscope
Wells Kelly - of Orleans
Jack Kerouac - writer/poet, complications due to alcoholism
Kenny Kirkland - noted pianist, heroin
Hoi Klinskih - of Sector Gaza
Paul Kossoff - of Free
Lance Krantz - drummer of Detox
Eddie Kurdziel - of Redd Kross

L

Barbara La Marr - actress, drug-related death in Hollywood
Peter Laughner - of Pere Ubu; acute pancreatitis
Rudy Lewis - of the Drifters
Bela Lugosi- actor
Frankie Lymon - doo wop singer, heroin
Phil Lynott - of Thin Lizzy

M

Steve MacKay
Billy MacKenzie - of the Associates
Mike MacTavish - of the Lost Souls
Steve Marriott - of The Small Faces and Humble Pie, drug related fire
Roger Martin - musician -liver failure from alcohol and drugs
Big Maybelle
Jad McAdam - of Lino
David McComb - of Traffic
David McComb (no relation) - of The Triffids
Jimmy McCulloch - guitarist
Pig Pen McKernan - of the Grateful Dead
Robbie McIntosh - of the Average White Band, heroin
Clyde McPhatter - singer
Joe Meek - record producer
Jonathan Melvoin - touring keyboardist for the Smashing Pumpkins, heroin
Mighty Spoiler - calypso music singer
Miss Christine - of the GTO's
Amedeo Modigliani - painter, alcohol poisoning
Marilyn Monroe - actress, singer
Ken Montgomery - of D.O.A.
Roy Montrell - session guitarist
Keith Moon - of the Who
Jim Morrison - of the Doors, heroin and alcohol (cause and fact of death disputed)
Billy Murcia - of the New York Dolls
Brent Mydland - keyboardist, of the Grateful Dead

N

Papoose Nelson - blues musician
Jerry Nolan - of The New York Dolls and The Heartbreakers
Bradley Nowell - of Sublime, heroin

O

Hugh O'Connor - actor, of In the Heat of the Night TV series
Lani O'Grady - actress, of Eight Is Enough
Frank O'Keefe - of the Outlaws
Johnny O'Keefe - singer
Brian O'Leary - actor
Charlie Ondras - of Unsane
Malcolm Owen - singer, lyricist of the Ruts

P

Marco Pantani - cyclist, Tour de France winner; acute cocaine intoxication
Charlie Parker - jazz musician
Robert Pastorelli - American television actor
Gram Parsons - country musician, of the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers
Joe Pass - jazz musician
Jon-Jon Paulos - of the Buckinghams
Art Pepper - jazz musician
Kristen Pfaff - of Hole, heroin
Esther Phillips - singer
John Phillips - musician, of the Mamas and the Papas
River Phoenix - actor
Jeffrey Lee Pierce - of the Gun Club
Rob Pilatus - of Milli Vanilli
Dana Plato - actress, of Diff'rent Strokes
Elvis Presley - singer
Freddie Prinze - comic, actor (Chico and the Man), self-inflicted gunshot wound while under the influence of Quaaludes

Q

Karen Ann Quinlan put into an extreme vegetative state by tranquilizers and alcohol died, 1985,
Glenn Quinn - actor (Roseanne, Angel)
Robert Quine - punk rock guitarist

R

Dee Dee Ramone - of the Ramones
Alex Ramsdell - jazz pianist
Johnnie Ray - musician
Wallace Reid - actor
Elis Regina - singer
Rob Graves Ritter - of Thelonius Monster, Gun Club, the Bags, 45 Grave
Peter Rosen - War
Michael Rudetski - keyboardist, Culture Club
David Ruffin - of the Temptations

S

Stefanie Sargent - of 7 Year Bitch
Bon Scott - of AC/DC, inhalation of own vomit
George Scott III - bass guitarist
Phil Seaman - singer
Jean Seberg - actress
Edie Sedgewick - actress
Will Shatter - of Flipper, heroin
Eddy Shaver - of Shaver
Bobby Sheehan - of Blues Traveler
Judee Sill - musician
Hillel Slovak - of Red Hot Chili Peppers, heroin
Richard Sohl - of The Patti Smith Group
Epic Soundtracks - of Swell Maps
Layne Staley - of Alice in Chains
Willian Stewart - doo wop singer, of Johnny Bragg & the Prisonaires
Bob Stinson - of the Replacements
Neil Storey - of the Dragon
Rory Storm - musician
Screaming Lord Sutch - singer, Prozac

T

Dallas Taylor - of the Danderliers
Vinnie Taylor - of Sha Na Na, heroin
Gary Thain - of Uriah Heep
Johnny Thunders - of the New York Dolls, alcohol and methadone
Dylan Thomas - poet, "an alcoholic insult to the brain."
Georg Trakl - playwright
Steven James Turner - of Clock DVA
Dick Twardzick - pianist

U

Stu Ungar - three-time World Series of Poker main event winner; cardiac damage caused by long-time cocaine use

V

Townes Van Zandt - musician
Lupe Vlez, actress
Sid Vicious - of the Sex Pistols, heroin
Gene Vincent - rock and roll musician, liver damage caused by alcohol

W

Dave Waller - musician
Dinah Washington - singer
Freddie Webster - jazz trumpeter
Brett Whiteley - painter
Keith Whitley - country musician, alcohol poisoning
Danny Whitten - of Crazy Horse, heroin
Hank Williams - country musician, overdose of painkillers, born with painful back deformation
Alan Wilson - of Canned Heat
Dennis Wilson - of the Beach Boys, exact cause of death unknown, alcohol-related drowning is a strong possibility
Andrew Wood - of Mother Love Bone
Anna Wood - Australian schoolgirl, ecstasy related

List Of Drug-related Deaths

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

See also