15 Rock Stars That Went Off the Deep End
Tabloids and celebrity gossip websites exploit celebrities’ every move to appease the bloodthirsty public, producing coveted documentation of the individual’s every move, whether it’s pictures of a boring salad lunch, hidden camera photos of drug consumption at a party, a voice recording of a tell-all telephone call, documentation of every arrest, or a tired looking morning at the airport.
As a result, the public eye watches the intimate details of these celebrities like specimens in a human zoo, and rock stars have become entertainers both on and off the stage. Since the lifestyle of ‘Drugs, Sex, Rock and Roll’ is endemic to their nature, the antics of rock musicians are usually enthralling – and most expected. But sometimes, just sometimes, one of them really cracks under all the pressure of fame and having gratuitous amounts of money. Here are fifteen newsworthy rock stars whose plunge off the deep end set them apart from all the other just sort-of crazy ones.
Courtney Love – Hole
After losing relevance as a drug-addled rock musician, Courtney Love moved on to bigger and better things: dragging her daughter through the incoherent, dog faced mud that is Love’s dramatic and mentally unstable tendencies.
17 year old Francis Bean was removed from Love’s custody in 2009 pending an investigation regarding Courtney’s alleged drug abuse, misappropriation of funds belonging to her daughter [theft], and assault. As if that wasn’t sweet enough, Courtney proceeded to air the crap out of it on Twitter.
“I hate to sound cold but any kid of mine who pulls this shit has lost her position. She was deceptive, she lied and she’s lying to herself. My daughter is not always honest. She is clearly deluded if she thinks she can buy her grandmother a small house in L.A. I’d love to see how that works. She thinks she has all this money. The point is, I have all the money she has.”
The amount of crazy that is Courtney Love could easily form a thick dissertation no one would read. Was she ever relevant? Okay, maybe for a minute.
Pete Doherty – The Libertines & Babyshambles
Singer of indie sensation Babyshambles’ Pete Doherty was recently arrested while attending his own hearing in court to fight reckless driving and DUI charges. For having drugs in his pocket. He’s in a video with Amy Winehouse singing and talking about a box of baby mice they clutch in their crack stained fingers. Here’s a picture. Behold the meth muppet. Doherty recently commissioned a marble statue of himself being crucified amongst what is supposed to be a symbolic background of newspaper clippings bearing his name.
GG Allin
Punk singer/songwriter GG Allin was notorious in and essential to the 80′s punk scene. Known for his unpredictable and usually violent life performances, GG Allin was born as “Jesus Christ”. No, really. After relocating from New Hampshire to NY to pursue his musical career, GG Allin often bragged about causing physical harm to his fans at shows, claiming that anyone attending should be prepared or even eager for injury. Signature stage moves included shitting himself, pissing all over the place, cutting up his body, spraying any and all body fluids into the audience, violently and indiscriminately attacking attendees, always getting naked, breaking everything in sight, and being generally frightening. Here’s an unfortunately low quality video [from the biographical documentary Hated] of Allin at one of his spoken word performances. He’s screaming, ranting, and punching himself in the head until a girl from the back yells something in protest. His reaction is ridiculous. Dude was definitely crazy.
Dead – Mayhem
Adopting the moniker ‘Dead’ because he was obsessed with the idea of belonging to an otherworldy dimension, vocalist Per Yngve Ohlin of Norwegian black metal band Mayhem was always described as withdrawn and remarkably depressed. Before performances he would bury and then dig up his stage outfit in order to look more, well, Dead. He kept a dead bird in a plastic bag to sniff like a drug so he could sing [or growl] ‘with the stench of death in [his] nostrils.’ Dead moved, with the rest of his band, into a secluded cabin in the woods to write Mayhem’s second album, De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, in 1994. It was there the deeply disturbed front man slit his wrists and, wasting no time, followed it up with a shotgun blast to the face. His suicide note read ‘please excuse all the blood.’
Euronymous – Mayhem
Euronymous, legally named Øystein Aarseth, was the guitar player for Mayhem and had known band mate Dead for only two weeks at the time of his suicide in the band’s cabin. Euronymous found the body himself and, before calling the police, departed to purchase a disposable camera. Upon returning, he rearranged part of the room and took pictures of the dead Dead, one of which was later used as the album cover of a bootleg Mayhem release called Dawn Of The Black Hearts. Rumor has it that after his photo op, he cooked and ate some of Dead’s brains. A second rumor [which was later confirmed by fellow band mates] claimed Euronymous went so far as to craft necklaces out of the skull fragments. “Hey, what’s that?” “Dead.” It’s so punny!
Kurt Cobain – Nirvana
See: Courtney Love.
Brian Jonestown Massacre
Lots of screaming and the occasional healthy dose of physical assault is normal if you’re a member of the Brian Jonestown Massacre. Lead singer Anton Newcombe didn’t fall off the edge so much as he claimed stake there years ago, nestled under a rock of neurosis and eccentricity in the deep end of the pool. Like everyone else on this list, Anton abused drugs and alcohol to an extent where it was impossible to tell his addiction apart from a possible or probable mental illness. A 2004 documentary titled DiG! reveals the story of Anton’s singlehanded sabotage of BJM, as well as their rivalry with his former best friend’s musical endeavor, The Dandy Warhols. The documentary was different from other musical biographies in the sense that it reached beyond fans of BJM thanks to the story told by Anton’s ridiculous antics, which unfolded much like a surreal tale of…well…a remotely successful 35 year old drug addict prone to random temper tantrums and breakdowns. Anton, known for recruiting and firing band members often and at random, can be seen sabotaging his own record label showcase in DiG! by punching his guitarist in the head for playing a song incorrectly.
Sid Vicious – Sex Pistols
Sex Pistols’ front man Sid Vicious stabbed his girlfriend, leaving her in the bathroom of a hotel room to die while he embarked on a mission to acquire more methadone. After his arrest, he was transferred from jail to Bellevue psychiatric hospital, where he attempted to commit suicide by slitting his wrists but failed. Vicious successfully committed suicide only a day after his release when he overdosed on heroin in his girlfriend’s apartment, leaving a note in his pocket referring to a death pact he had made with deceased wife Nancy.
Steven Tyler – Aerosmith
Steven Tyler’s recent antics include canceling an entire tour after falling off the side of a stage in a drug induced stupor and breaking a shoulder, and quietly returning to addiction rehab for the fourth time while simultaneously reaching retirement age. As I gazed upon the ever shifting folds of his face in a recent picture, wondering how much more offensive he could possibly look, I realized but one thing: Steven Tyler isn’t crazy. He’s just old. And a drug addict. Hooray!
Ike Turner – Musician
Ike Turner was nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the part he played on the record “Rocket 88.” His lunacy has earned him a spot on this little corner of the internet as an incredibly violent drug addict with enough money to support all his habits, vices, and violent whims. Turner is notorious for committing despicable acts of abuse on his wife over a period of years – beating her, pouring hot coffee on her, and burning her with cigarettes are all documented claims in Tina’s tell-all autobiography. Besides the cruel and sometimes tortuous spousal abuse, he has admitted to spending over 11 million dollars on drugs in under fifteen years. Spending upwards of 30k on cocaine a day, Turner would fill champagne buckets with the stuff and let his guests feast on the open faced coke buffet. After repeated drug-related arrests,and losing his studio to a fire in 1982, Ike finally cleaned up his act in the mid nineties. He died of unknown causes in in California residence in 2007.
Sakevi Yokoyama – Gism
Gism was a Japanese Punk Hardcore band from the 80s most notable for their low-range vocals that were generally unheard in punk music at that time. Rumored to be a member of the Yakuza, lead singer Sakevi was known for his violence toward audience members at shows. He’s hit his fans with the mic stand, waved lit flares at their faces, and even chased a few with a flamethrower.
Jim Morrison – The Doors
This one has no comic element. The Doors’ frontman Jim Morrison was always eccentric, abusing drugs and alcohol in adolescence and claiming an experience he had as a child in which he witnessed a car accident left him with another person’s soul inside his body. As The Doors rose to fame, Morrison’s debilitating alcoholism continued to ravage him. His disease began to diminish his talent, and in 1971 he moved to France to continue his writing. He died the same year of an apparent heroin overdose and was found in the bathtub of his apartment. No autopsy was ever performed, but former friends of his would later come forward to claim that he originally overdosed in the bathroom of a nearby nightclub, but was carried home and placed in the tub by drug dealers and pals to cover it up.
Elvis Presley
A man who needs no introduction. The King dominated the American pop music charts for decades before succumbing to cheeseburgers and prescription pills. Although most people are aware of the manner in which Elvis died, few realize how much his manager had to do with it. Colonel Tom Parker was a domineering, greedy dutchman with the legal name Dries van Kujik. Since he was an illegal immigrant in America and could not travel out of the country, he nixed any European tours Elvis has the opportunity to embark on. Parker signed Elvis into d-rate movie deals, commandeered the production of an album [butchering one of Elvis' songs in the process] and tried to force The King into a television performance in which he would dress up as Santa Claus. Elvis had had enough. The performance happened with Elvis dressed in a striking black leather outfit, looking like a million bucks. Sadly, his comeback performance did not secure his rise back to stardom and perfect health. Instead, his demise was met while fat, unhealthy, and hunched over on a toilet bowl about a decade later.
Jim Gordon – Derek and the Dominos
The lesser known Jim Gordon was a session drummer for musicians like The Beach Boys and Eric Clapton. Gordon’s career began at the young age of seventeen when he started playing for The Everly Brothers in 1963. Gordon quickly became so busy playing clubs by night and recording as a session musician by day that he virtually had no free time at all. About a decade later, something in Jim Gordon snapped. Gordon had illusions of his mother’s voice invading his head, cruelly demanding he starve himself. His newly developed mental illness grew inside him in the form of a violent rage, until he made a final attempt to stop the soul crushing hallucinations by stabbing and bludgeoning his mother to death in 1983. Because he was diagnosed with schizophrenia during his trial and not earlier, Jim Gordon was sentenced to sixteen years in prison for murdering his own mother with both a hammer and kitchen knife.
Bonus: DMX – Rapper
DMX is no ‘rocker’ but definitely deserves a spot on this list after his latest run-ins with the law. DMX was one of the most famous rappers in the early 00s. His music was featured in soundtracks for Any Given Sunday ["My Niggas"] and The Fast And The Furious ["Rollin'"], but he was also known for his roles as an actor in movies like Exit Wounds, Belly, and Romeo Must Die. But even at the peak of his success, DMX seemed to find trouble wherever he went. His strange and often sad arrest history is so bizarre it deserves its own timeline.
1998: Arrested after a stripper alleged she was raped by DMX. No evidence was found and charges were dropped.
1999: Arrested during the Hard Knock Life tour for an alleged stabbing. Charges were dropped.
2004: Arrested after attempting to steal a car outside JFK airport in NYC. DMX claimed to be an FBI agent and demanded the car for top-secret FBI ‘business’. Seriously. He used fake sirens to pull the vehicle over and sped off after the owner refused to hand it over. Parking lot attendants denied DMX’s request to open the gate, prompting him to drive through it. Police reported he was under the influence of valium.
2004: Just weeks after the FBI incident, DMX was arrested for speeding and driving with a suspended license.
2005: Arrested for crashing his SUV into a woman’s vehicle, which was subsequently pushed into a police car.
2006: Arrested on a flight from NY to London for refusing to wear his seatbelt and becoming abrasive when told he must.
2008: Barricaded inside his bedroom in attempt to deter a raid, DMX came out of his pillow fort when the SWAT team showed up. Police found guns, drug paraphernalia, multiple cars with incorrect or mismatching license plates, and sixteen pit bulls. Three of the sixteen were dead, and one of three had been lit on fire.
2008: Mild in comparison, DMX was arrested for failure to appear in court and driving with a suspended license.
2008: Arrested after giving a false name during a hospital stay and shirking a $7500 hospital bill.
2009: DMX showed up an hour and a half late to his own performance at a charity concert and threw a fit when security refused to let him perform. Here’s a video of him and his crew fighting with the guards.
The progression of DMX’s photographs over the years could be an anti-drug abuse ad. Check it out:
I think Ozzy deserves to be on the list, especially considering his Black Sabbath days.
Seriously, no Keith Moon?
No Brian Wilson from the Beach Boys? For shame!
Syd Barrett's name must appear in this article.
It should also be noted that after Dead shot himself in the face, the band took pictures of his body, and used it as the cover for their next album.
One of the band members said something along the lines of (I can't find the exact quote) "This was the most he's ever contributed to the band".
Sid Vicious wasn't Sex Pistols' front man, he was the bass player.
no Sid Barret from the original Pink Floyd? Really? I mean, maybe I skimmed too much and missed him but any list of crazy musicians without him i dunno man. Good list outside of that, and maybe Keith Moon.
But Sid, is THE insane musician of all time.
KP
Darby Crash from The Germs
The R&B signer Houston popped out his own eye with a fork…
Definitely can't miss Roky Erickson, they made a documentary out of his struggle with schizophrenia too.
That Elvis picture almost looks like Elvis!
You've got Euronomous, and Dead, but where is Varg Vikernes?
Steve Tyler is a lightweight . . . what about John Bonham and Bon Scott?
What can you say about Courtney??? Who woulda thunk that
By far the best musician of our generation. Kurt Cobain is
Agreed with sid Barrett, also I could see Daniel Johnston on this list as well.
Why is the main picture of Phil Lesh of the Grateful Dead…The deepest end he went off of was smoking some grass and LSD in the 60's and 70's also he was a bit of a drunk…but still i guess they got the wrong pic, cause no phil lesh story
Let's not forget Skip Spence, the original Jefferson Airplane drummer and then Moby Grape guitarist. He went berserk and tried to kill Grape drummer Don Stevenson with an axe, landing him in Bellevue. Spence, long considered the American equivalent of Syd Barrett, died in 1999.
don 4get andre kostelanetz! dat dude was ill!
Whoever put this list together doesn't know who Michael Jackson is. If he did, I wouldn't be writing this.
musclebro420 needs to look up the word "musician" in the dictionary.
wow these guys are all farkheads!
david bowie. one of my favorite rock legends. so wacked out on drugs he thought he was the character he was performing (ziggy stardust).
I can't believe that Syd Barrett isn't on this list. He was a musical genius with a tormented mind that ultimately ruined his career and life.
And that isn't a picture of Elvis at all, and he certainly doesn't deserve to be on this list. Elvis actually had an incredibly long career (as far as rockers go) and though he struggled with his weight and prescription pill addiction, he was never any worse off than most musicians. Your whole description is about Tom Parker, and while he was certainly the worst thing that could've happened to Elvis, that doesn't make Elvis "off his rocker."
Major FAIL
No Keith Moon?
Wow, so many things to start with…I know you wanted to keep it to 15, The only one I might disagree with was Steven Tyler? Nothing compared to Darby Crash from the Germs, or Keith Moon or Brian Wilson….
I was thinking that it was people who were intentionally trying to ruin their career, not the ones who had no real control, ie..psychological issues. Of which quite a few listed do, did or have suffered from some form of psychological issues. Including: DMX, Brian Wilson, GG Allin, Kurt Cobain and more then 2-3 others mentioned.
If you look at guys like Ike Turner, not sure if it was so much a Psychological issue as it was a very serious chemical dependency? (Same for Jim Morrison from the Doors.)
I would think that when it comes to Elvis since his entire career was dictated by the Colonel, that if the Colonel had bowed out toward the middle of Elvis's career we may still be seeing Elvis doing shows with Wayne Newton somewhere in Nevada? However, it appears that that Colonel Tom Parker, pretty much was pushing that cart downhill himself. (Which makes me wonder if CTP didn't have a Psychological issue or two?)
Lastly, I did have an interesting chuckle at the quote; "By far the best musician of our generation. Kurt Cobain is". (You can always tell when someone knows little about Music when they think K. Cobain was incredible. I would be more likely to just call KC an anomaly. He was no more an incredible Musician then "Pearl Jam" was the greatest Band of our life time.
Daniel Johnston
Syd Barrett
Roky Erickson
Brian WIlson
Nick Drake
Phil Spector
Elliot Smith
Wesley Willis
That guy in the pic is not Elvis Presley. sigh
What is your definition of "the deep end"? Roughly half this list is made up genuinely gifted musicians who suffered from psychological problems and/or substance abuse issues. The other half are talentless douchebags who relied upon loud, obnoxious "shocking" antics to cover up their complete lack of musical skill. You should make seperate lists. There are plenty of both types to write about.
What about Freddie Mercury?
He was a boy from a well-off family, plenty of talent and friends, certanly a rock star!! No confirmed use of drugs though.
His sexual prowess and extravagant parties, leading to an untimley end, I believe, deserve a mention.
Anyone agree?
Syd Barrett of course, Elliot Smith stabbed himself in the chest, Michael Hedges drove off a cliff. How about Charlie Manson too, I heard he did some crazy shit.
I've had it with all these pretend "stars". You want to see real people who went off the deep end then just go for a walk down your local downtown. Look at all the "rock" stars there smoking rock.
What about Ian Curtis?
I can't believe Syd Barrett of Pink Floyd is not on this list. His tragic story certainly deserves more time here than Steven Tyler.
nobody remembers Keith Richards ?
The Sid Vicious article is about as incorrect as possible. He was a replacement bassist for only two and a half months and not the front man and as he couldn't actually play he was not a rock star or a musician. He also didn't die of an Heroin overdose it was because of fluid in the lungs. But hey at least you spelled his name right.
Sid asked Lemmy, the bassist of Motörhead, to teach him how to play bass with the words, "I can't play bass," to which Lemmy replied "I know." Lemmy stated, "He still couldn't play bass when he died."
Response to Rowdy: Keith Richards is far from insane. Put yourself in his shoes for a moment. Consider living almost 50 years held hostage by fame. Can't go out to a movie, dinner or a 7-11 without being mobbed. John Lennon did and he's dead.
Rowdy, you know who your friends are. If someone tells you they love you- you know they love you. Keith will never know for sure who really cares for him. Sadly, many of the people who surround him get there because they are slick and self serving con's.
I am amazed Keith Richards is still a sensitive, caring and generous soul who has never been deluded into thinking he is anything more than a RHYTHM guitar player.
You may be confusing craziness with abnormal behavior caused by the occupational hazzard drug and alcohol abuse. That's how he copes with the insanity surrounding him.
Brian Jones' bout with depression lead to his untimely death.
Suprisingly not mentioned are 2 of the greatest guitarist of our time. Both pioneers of blues guitar who introduced "Race Music" to the white middle class making it a valid art form.
Roy Buchanan(who inspired Eric Clapton,) hung himself in jail.
Peter Green, an original member of John Mayall's Blues Breakers , founder and front man of Fleetwood Mac & the guy who wrote "Black Magic Woman" making a career in music for Carlos Santana. His sever schizophrenia caused him to fall into obscurity. It's possible that hearing Stevie Nix voice (described by Joe Walch as that of a bellowing sow) drove Peter Green over the edge.
David Bowie: excentric & genius. His brain is so highly evolved communication is difficult for him. His ability to re invent himself to the ever changing taste of society is a phenomanan. Even during the dark days of the 80's he kept the music alive.
Two artist who I have come to respect more and more through the years are David Bowie and Willy Nelson.
Keith Richards is a remarkably sane and beautiful individual.
I'd appreciate my fellow music fans input to help me figure out Eugene Chadbourne. Genius or Crazy?
I've actually done some research regarding the band Mayhem as they provided inspiration for a story originally written by a friend that I have been working on revising. I must point out that your assessment that Euronymous only knew Dead for two weeks is "dead" wrong. It was closer to two years. Even looking at Wikipedia will help confirm that your statement was incorrect. As well, Euronymous was the only person involved with the discovery of Dead's body and is the sole individual responsible for taking pictures thereof. Drummer Hellhammer (Jan-Axel von Blomberg) was visiting his parents at the time, and bassist Necrobutcher (Jörn Stubberud) was on hiatus from the band and did not find out about the death until Euronymous called to inform him. Stubberud is on record as telling Euronymous not to contact him again until he had gotten rid of the pictures.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2005/feb/20/popan…
I am not denying that Dead and Euronymous have earned their place on a list of extreme rock musicians, I am only pointing out that some of the facts listed are not indeed factual.
One more thing: Dead committed suicide on April 8, 1991. Euronymous was murdered on August 10, 1993. So if they moved to a cabin in the woods in 1994, they had a zombie party going on, and I hope that Dead kicked Euronymous' ass for taking those damn pictures. I have stumbled across the one that some apathetic moron used to create the cover for the bootleg album "Dawn of the Black Hearts," and I would like to open a can of Whoop Ass on both said apathetic moron and Euronymous for subjecting me to that miserable image.
Brian Douglas Clemons (Nihilistic punk poet)
Bloody F. Mess
Rock Bottom & The Spys, The Leftovers, The Mad… (Early nihilistic punk bands, they all make the Mayhem story look like a Walt Disney movie for kids).
Darby Crash
Johnny Thunders
El Duce
Dee Dee Ramone
Black Randy
Jimmy Smack…
Rocco Roll (From the punk band Absentees)
Nazi Dog (From the 70's punk band The Viletones, this guy was over the top wild…)
Mike Nightmare (From the 70's punk band The Ugly…another over the top wild punk rockers)
Ado (From the 70's italien punk band Tampax)
Frank Discussion (From the punk band Feederz)
Bobby Soxx (Another over the top real punk rockers)
Trixz Sly (From the 70's punk band The Nothing)
Joe Christ (original punk rockers, movie director)
Ian Weaver (From the 70's australian punk band Chosen Few)
Mike Vomit (From the 70's punk band Vomit Pigs, WILD!)
Phil Tolstead (From the 70's punk band Huns)
Ivica ÄŒuljak (From the punk band Satan Panonski, this guy was over the top extreme!)
More wild & tragic punk bands…
Battalion Of Saints
Asphalt Jungle
Guilty Razors…
I could go on and on. This is back when punk rock was nihilistic, unpredictable & wild. Before all the political correctness, rules & morals. Before the absurd mohawks & other superficial pseudo-punk fashion…
I'm also confused by the phrase"went off the deep end." Many of these people had lives that made as much sense as that of some of my friends. This list could easily include another 50 musicians, at least. Maybe Britney Spears (well, Something's wrong with her…) Axl Rose, maybe? And even Alice Cooper who once confessed that at times the Alice Cooper persona had taken over off-stage. Also, I'm a pretty good songwriter myself and I haven't been feeling so well, either.
Seriously? No Syd Barret? No John Bohnam? No paragraph for KurDT Kobain? While That dirty stinky hole from the band Hole gets the first installment? For shame, For shame.
I believe that Britney was not loved or cared for when she needed it the most, if I could see her slow decline after the birth of Jayden James,why couldn't those close to her see it, undiagnosed post partum depression can be devastating for all members involved, I think Britney needed love caring understanding and most of all professional help from early on,if she had that help and security I believe her come back would have happened long ago. PPD is often misunderstood and everything she did was blown out of proportion to apease the public(not her fans they care about her)
I love Britney because she have good voice .
R.I.P Kurt.
I'm sure your putting on an amazing concert for Jesus as of now.
Your forever misseddd.
Nirvana is absolutley amazingg,and Kurt has the most unique voicee(:<3
Nikki Sixx, common he deserves mention the guy died came back to life, hitched a ride home afterwards and didnt sober up for about 20yrs after that.