Strange Deaths of Rock Stars

Brian Jones – Death by Misadventure

Brian Jones was a founding member of the Rolling Stones, and contributed heavily to their early success. But as time went on he felt pushed aside by the songwriting team of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, and his growing drug problem also helped alienate him from his bandmates, who fired him in June of 1969.

Jones was discovered dead in his swimming pool on July 3, 1969. Coroners ruled his death an accident, noting his alcohol and substance abuse played a role and calling it “death my misadventure.” Theories and rumors have swirled for decades that the former Stone was murdered, though despite a new investigation in 2008, nothing has ever been proven.





Keith Relf – Electrocuted While Playing Guitar

Keith Relf is best known to rock music fans as the lead singer and harmonica player from the Yardbirds, the British blues rock band that spawned the careers of Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page.

After his departure, the New Yardbirds went on to become Led Zeppelin. The musician and singer also founded the group Renaissance with his sister, Jane Relf, and he had a brief solo career.

Relf died on May 14, 1976 in a bizarre incident at his home. The veteran musician was apparently playing an improperly grounded electric guitar in his basement recording studio when he was electrocuted.


Steve Peregrin Took – Choked on a Cocktail Cherry

Born Stephen Ross Porter, Took borrowed his rock and roll stage name from a character in ‘The Hobbit,’ and by 1967 the multi-instrumentalist had joined Marc Bolan to form the duo Tyrannosaurus Rex. By 1969, Took’s push to perform more of his own material — as well as his drug use — had driven a wedge between the pair, and Took was fired from the group.

He went on to a series of short-lived bands, but never came close to the success Bolan achieved without him. Took died on Oct. 27, 1980 from asphyxiation after choking on a cocktail cherry. Though he and his girlfriend had ingested both morphine and hallucinogens the night before, authorities ruled that neither contributed to his death.


Dennis Wilson – Drunk Diving

Drunk driving kills plenty of people every year, but Dennis Wilson may be the only drunk diving fatality we’ve ever heard of. The Beach Boys drummer’s fast, volatile life included five marriages to four different women, as well as the typical excesses of rock stardom, including a serious addiction to alcohol. But he liked to relax and get away from it all on his yacht at Marina Del Rey.

The drummer and singer drowned on Dec. 28, 1983 while diving from his yacht after drinking all day. Wilson was reportedly trying to recover some items he had thrown overboard three years earlier. He was 39 years old. To add insult to fatal injury, his drum chair was taken over by John Stamos from TV’s ‘Full House.’