On This Date, December 8th, in 1980: John Lennon was murdered outside of the Dakota building in New York City where he was living. Mark David Chapman shot Lennon multiple times as he signed an autograph for Chapman. John Lennon was 40 years old.
Nick’s Favorite Drummer was Neal Smith of Alice Cooper
In 1984: Inebriated Motley Crue singer Vince Neil was involved in a car crash which killed passenger Nicholas “Razzle” Dingley, 24 year old drummer of Hanoi Rocks. Neil would spend 20 days in jail and pay $2.6 million in compensation.
In 2004: Former Pantera guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott was murdered on stage during a performance with his new band Damageplan in Columbus, OH. Abbott was 38 years old.
Thanks To Paul Shaffer’s Day In Rock
I always remember that Darby Crash, lead singer of the Germs, committed suicide by overdosing on heroin one day before John Lennon was murdered in 1980. He was buried under the John Lennon story, both figuratively and literally. Interestingly, it was a suicide pact, in which the partner, Casey Cola, survived; reportedly she was subsequently institutionalized . . . and recently worked on some alt-music programming called Mixtape Massacre.