On This Date, September 19th, in 1973: Gram Parsons (born Ingram Cecil Connor III) died of a lethal combination of morphine and alcohol in Joshua Tree, CA. He was 26 years old.
Tag Archives: drug overdose
Remembering Brian Epstein
On This Date, August 27th, in 1967: The Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein died of a sleeping pill overdose. News of Epstein’s death reached The Beatles while they were on their now infamous retreat with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The back story of Brian Epstein’s life while he worked with The Beatles is actually pretty intriguing and crazy and obsessive and all that good stuff. I recommend checking out the book The Love You Make by Beatles’ camp insiders Peter Brown and Steven Gaines for lots of good dirt on Epstein and the whole band. The book gets a bad rap for being such a sordid tell-all, but you know what they say, “they wouldn’t print it if it wasn’t true.”
Remembering Keith Moon
On This Date, September 7th in 1978: Keith Moon, drummer for The Who, died in London of an overdose of Hemenephirin, a drug he was taking to cure his alcoholism. He was 32. I still remember that day like it just happened; what a fucking tragedy. In an oddly related story, on this same date in 1985, drummer Zak Starkey (son of Ringo Starr) and his wife Sarah welcomed their first child, daughter Tatia Jayne. Starkey has played drums for The Who since 1994, and actually received his first professional drum kit from Moon, who is also his Godfather. That kit later sold at Sotheby’s auction house for £12,000.
Keith and Zak
RIP Heath Ledger
Heath as he looked in A Knight’s Tale
Actor Heath Ledger has passed away, January 22nd, 2008, of an apparent overdose of prescription drugs. Man, 28 is just way too young to go, especially for someone who was as cute and talented as Heath Ledger. What a shame. RIP, Heath.