Top 10 Drug Abuser Musicians

Top 10 Drug Abuser Musicians

Sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll is a saying as old as it gets. Getting it big in the music scene is really tough business but even harder is to cope up with the superstardom and handle the fame, pressure and money. Many a great musicians have failed to strike a balance between fame, money and their lifestyles leading to their careers going down the gutter or some more tragic consequences like their deaths. Here are the Top 10 Drug Abuser Musicians.

10. Bob Dylan

At number 10 in Top 10 Drug Abuser Musicians is Bob Dylan. Bob Dylan is known as the person who can play just any instrument but back in his days he also tried every drug there is like marijuana, LSD, cocaine, heroin, amphetamines and alcohol. He was the one who introduced John Lennon to marijuana and would also snort heroin with him whole day.

9. Nikki Sixx

At number 9 in Top 10 Drug Abuser Musicians is Nikki Sixx. He probably has the most crazy overdose stories of all time and had overdosed many times. Once he was declared dead in an ambulance but since the EMT was a big fan, he continued working on his heart and he finally woke up in the hospital. This inspired him to write the song “Jumpstart my heart”. On another occasion, he overdosed at his dealer’s place who tried everything from putting ice packs in his pants to beating him to a pulp with baseball bat to wake him up. Thinking he was dead, he dumped Nikki in dumpster but Nikki woke up a little after to go home to snort some more. Now that is living the ultimate rock and roll life.

8. Iggy Pop

At number 8 in Top 10 Drug Abuser Musicians is Iggy Pop. Iggy is called the godfather of punk and he treats Jim Morrison as his idol. Jim Morrison used to create quite a riot on stage and Iggy lived up to his idol’s antics by also undressing like Jim on stage. His wild on stage antics while being under the influence of drugs also made him to be put into a mental institution. An avid heroin user, apparently after taking heroin they would squirt the blood left in the syringe onto the walls and create Jackson Pollock-ish art.

7. Brian Wilson

At number 7 is Brian Wilson from The Beach Boys. Pot, hash, LSD, cocaine and more, all of these were used by Brian to get creative idea for his songs including their biggest hit “Good Vibrations”. The drugs and alcohol took a toll on his personal life as he stayed away from music along with deterioration of his health and mental condition. After many rehabs, he is sober now and still performing for The Beach Boys.

6. Eric Clapton

At number 6 in Top 10 Drug Abuser Musicians is Eric Clapton. One of the greats of rock ‘n’ roll, he is the only person to be inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three times, once as a solo artist and other two times as member of Cream and Yardbirds. Despite all that greatness that he achieved, Clapton battled drug and alcohol addiction his whole life and even wrote the song “Cocaine” based on his addiction. That was something almost no one ever dared to do . He was known to spend $16,000 a week on heroin which eventually lead him to suicide in 1960s. He has also suffered car crashes, health problems and even performed lying down.

5. Jimi Hendrix

At number 5 in Top 10 Drug Abuser Musicians is Jimi Hendrix. It’s a real shame that the person who is often considered as the greatest guitar player of all time had to die so young with an entire life worth of music to give to the whole world. He has revolutionized the way electric guitars are played but himself had to deal with drug abuse all the time. Known for taking heroin, he died due to asphyxiation from his own vomit due to heroin overdose.

4. Kurt Cobain

At number 4 is Nirvana front-man Kurt Cobain. Cobain has been the voice of an entire generation and inspired an entire generation to make form their own bands. Famous for making grunge music popular in the 90s, Kurt had often said in interviews how he disliked being famous and pressure that came with it. Combined with the trauma of childhood, he got into drugs pretty bad. In the end he injected himself with a large mixture of heroin and valium and then shot himself in the head.

3. Ozzy Osbourne

At number 3 in Top 10 Drug Abuser Musicians is Ozzy Osbourne. The lead singer of Black Sabbath and nicknamed “The Prince of Darkness”, he was famous for his music and wild antics like biting the head off a bat during a concert. Apart from these, his drug and alcohol abuse was also no secret. The fact that 1984 Bark at the Moon tour is often regarded as the craziest alcohol and drugs fueled tours in the history of rock ‘n’ roll speaks volumes about Ozzy. There is also a story that during that concert, Ozzy and Nikki Sixx, drummer for Motley Crue had an ongoing gross-out showdown. During one of those moments apparently Nikki snorted a big line of cocaine and asked Ozzy to beat him and Ozzy replied by snorting line of ants, after which he peed on the remaining ones and licked the urine!

2. Jim Morrison

At number 2 in Top 10 Drug Abuser Musicians is Jim Morrison. Jim Morrison of the Doors was famous for his on stage antics, crazy stunts and his drug life. He had even been placed on US Government’s Watch list and was subject to music censorships. Apart from his run-ins with the authority he was really notorious for drug abuse especially heroin. His drug abuse let to his ultimate demise when his body was found in his bathtub in his apartment. Though no autopsy was done at the time, three years later the manger of the nightclub claimed that Jim had actually overdosed on heroin in the bathroom of the club and that the dealers who sold Jim, took his body and dumped it in his bathtub.

1. Keith Richards

At number 1 in Top 10 Drug Abuser Musicians is Keith Richards. The Rolling Stones guitarist is the poster child for rock ‘n’ roll excess living a life of fame, money and drugs like very few others. Be it prescription drugs or cocaine. Be it Heroin or just about any other drug. If you can think of it chances are that Keith has taken which shouldn’t be a surprised because he admitted to snorting his late father’s ashes. Despite his drug riddled life and having made it to the top of many lists like “Top 10 Musicians Most Likely Die”, he still hasn’t thrown in the towel.

All these people on the list are some of the biggest names of music industry but all of them were plagued by drug addiction and many unfortunately had to lose their life for that. These were the Top 10 Drug Abuser Musicians.