List of drug-related deaths
The following is a list of notable people who have died from drug-related causes. Deaths caused by alcohol and caffeine are included. See also: Lists of people by cause of death.
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A
- Nick Adams - actor
- Dave Alexander - of The Stooges
- Rick Allen - of Asylum
- G.G. Allin - punk musician, heroin
- West Arkeen - of Outpatience, and songwriter, heroin
- Howard Arkley - painter
- Arlus - of the Blunt Stitches
B
- Deford Bailey - country musician
- Chet Baker - jazz trumpeter and singer
- Florence Ballard - of The Supremes, cardiac arrest strongly exacerbated by long-term drug abuse
- Honoré de Balzac - caffeine poisoning from drinking over forty cups of coffee a day
- Lester Bangs - musician, writer, overdose of painkillers, possibly accidental
- Jean-Michel Basquiat - painter
- Ludwig van Beethoven - classical musician, note: alcohol abuse led to the serious health problems that caused his death
- Bix Beiderbecke - jazz musician
- John Belushi - of the Blues Brothers, actor, and comedian - heroin and cocaine
- Bunny Berigan
- Sonny Berman - jazz musician
- Wes Berggren - of Tripping Daisy
- Len Bias - basketball star; died of cocaine overdose before ever playing in the NBA
- Dave Bidwell - of the Pink Fairies, Chicken Shack, Savoy Brown
- Matty Blag - of Blaggers I.T.A
- Mike Bloomfield - blues guitarist, heroin
- Tommy Bolin - of Deep Purple
- John Bonham - of Led Zeppelin, inhalation of own vomit; believed to be alcohol-related
- James Booker - musician, heroin
- Erik Brodreskift - of Borknagar
- Herman Brood - musician
- Dennis Brown - musician
- Lenny Bruce - comedian, heroin, found dead with a needle in his arm
- Robert Buck - of 10,000 Maniacs
- Tim Buckley - rock and roll musician, heroin
- Lester Butler - harpist, of the Red Devils, heroin
- Paul Butterfield - American blues musician
C
- Toy Caldwell - of Marshall Tucker Band
- Alex Campbell - musician
- Skip Candelori - of Turning Point
- Herb Caro - saxophoneist, clarinetist, heroin
- Leroy Carr - blues musician
- Miss Christine - of the GTOs
- Michael Clarke - of the Byrds
- Steve Clarke - of Def Leppard
- Will Clay - of The Toys
- Montgomery Clift - actor
- Kurt Cobain - Nirvana singer and guitarist, heroin and gunshot wounds
- Brian Cole - of the Association
- Allen Collins - of Lynyrd Skynyrd
- Cowboy - of Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five
- Carl Crack - of Atari Teenage Riot
- Darby Crash - punk musician, of the Germs, heroin
- Todd Crew - of the Drunk Fux and Jetboy
- Robbin Crosby - of Ratt, contracted HIV as a result of long-time heroin addiction and died of AIDS
D
- Dalida - singer, barbiturates
- Dorothy Dandridge - actress, singer
- Jesse Ed Davis - guitarist, session musician, heroin
- Jeanine Deckers - the Singing Nun
- Sheik Sayid Darwish, Egyptian composer and father of Arab popular music, cocaine
- Rick Dey - of the Vejtables, February Sunshine, the Wilde Knights and the Merry-Go-Round
- DJ Screw - musician, codeine
- Tommy Dorsey - jazz musician and bandleader, choked to death while sleeping with the aid of drugs
- John Dougherty - of Flipper
- Nick Drake - musician
- Bobby Driscoll - actor
E
- Jeanne Eagels - actress
- John Entwistle - of the Who
- Rick Evers - drummer and songwriter
F
- Chris Farley - comedian
- Pete Farnden - of the Pretenders
- Rainer Werner Fassbinder - playwright, director
- W.C. Fields - American performer and actor
- Keith Ferguson - of the Fabulous Thunderbirds
- Zach Foley - of EMF and Carrie
- Tom Foote - of the Devices and the Loco Gringos
G
- Rory Gallagher - of Taste
- Jerry Garcia - of the Grateful Dead, cardiac arrest strongly exacerbated by longtime heroin abuse
- Paul Gardiner - of Gary Numan's Tubeway Army
- Judy Garland - American actress
- Duck Geottel - of Skinny Puppy, heroin
- Andy Gibb - singer, younger brother of the Bee Gees; cardiac damage strongly exacerbated by cocaine and alcohol abuse
- Candy Givens - of Zephyr
- Alexander Godunov Actor, died of alcoholism at 45
- Dwayne Goettel - heroin
- Gribouille (1941-1968), French singer
- Stacy Guess - of the Squirrel Nut Zippers
H
- Paul Hammond - of Atomic Rooster
- Bobby Hatfield - of the Righteous Brothers, heart attack triggered by cocaine overdose
- Tim Hardin - heroin
- Wynonie Harris - blues singer, alcohol poisoning
- George Harrison - of the Beatles, heavy tobacco user, died of lung cancer
- Alex Harvey - of The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, liver damage caused by alcohol abuse
- Eddie Hazel - guitarist, of the P-funk collective
- Helno - of Les Negresses Vertes
- Margaux Hemingway - actress
- Jimi Hendrix - rock and roll musician, respiratory arrest caused by barbiturate overdose
- Gregory Herbet - of Blood, Sweat & Tears
- Bob Hite - of Canned Heat
- Randy Jo Hobbs - musician
- El Duce Hoke - of the Mentors
- Michael Holiday - singer
- Billie Holiday - jazz singer
- Hollywood Fats - musician
- Gary Holton - of Heavy Metal Kids
- James Honeyman-Scott - of the Pretenders
- Shannon Hoon - of Blind Melon
- Tim Hovey - actor
- Baby Huey - singer
- Phyllis Hyman - singer
I
J
- Lorri Jackson - musician
- Tom Jans - musician
- Joëlle (1953-1982), American born French singer
- Brian Jones - of the Rolling Stones, drowned, very likely due to alcohol and barbiturate intoxication
- Rob Jones - of Wonder Stuff
- Janis Joplin - rock and roll and blues musician, heroin
K
- John Kahn - of the Jerry Garcia Band
- Jeff Kaplan - of Kaleidoscope
- Wells Kelly - of Orleans
- Beverly Kenney - singer
- Kenny Kirkland - noted pianist, heroin
- Hoi Klinskih - of Sector Gaza
- Paul Kossoff - of Free
- Lance Krantz - drummer of Detox
- Eddie Kurdziel - of Redd Kross
L
- Peter Laughner - of Pere Ubu; acute pancreatitis
- Rudy Lewis - of the Drifters
- Bela Lugosi- actor
- Frankie Lymon - doo wop singer, heroin
- Phil Lynott - of Thin Lizzy
M
- Steve MacKay
- Billy MacKenzie - of the Associates
- Mike MacTavish - of the Lost Souls
- Steve Marriott - of The Small Faces and Humble Pie, drug related fire
- Big Maybelle
- Jad McAdam - of Lino
- David McComb - of Traffic
- David McComb (no relation) - of The Triffids
- Jimmy McCulloch - guitarist
- Pig Pen McKernan - of the Grateful Dead
- Robbie McIntosh - of the Average White Band, heroin
- Clyde McPhatter - singer
- Joe Meek - record producer
- Jonathan Melvoin - touring keyboardist for the Smashing Pumpkins, heroin
- Mighty Spoiler - calypso music singer
- Miss Christine - of the GTO's
- Amedeo Modigliani - painter, alcohol poisoning
- Marilyn Monroe - actress, singer
- Ken Montgomery - of D.O.A
- Roy Montrell - session guitarist
- Keith Moon - of the Who
- Jim Morrison - of the Doors, heroin and alcohol (cause and fact of death disputed)
- Billy Murcia - of the New York Dolls
- Brent Mydland - keyboardist, of the Grateful Dead
N
- Papoose Nelson - blues musician
- Jerry Nolan - of The New York Dolls and The Heartbreakers
- Bradley Nowell - of Sublime, heroin
O
- Hugh O'Connor - actor, of In the Heat of the Night TV series
- Lani O'Grady - actress, of Eight Is Enough
- Frank O'Keefe - of the Outlaws
- Johnny O'Keefe - singer
- Brian O'Leary - actor
- Charlie Ondras - of Unsane
- Malcolm Owen - singer, lyricist of the Ruts
P
- Marco Pantani - cyclist, Tour de France winner; acute cocaine intoxication
- Charlie Parker - jazz musician
- Robert Pastorelli - American television actor
- Gram Parsons - country musician, of the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers
- Joe Pass - jazz musician
- Jon-Jon Paulos - of the Buckinghams
- Art Pepper - jazz musician
- Kristen Pfaff - of Hole, heroin
- Esther Phillips - singer
- John Phillips - musician, of the Mamas and the Papas
- River Phoenix - actor
- Jeffrey Lee Pierce - of the Gun Club
- Rob Pilatus - of Milli Vanilli
- Dana Plato - actress, of Diff'rent Strokes
- Elvis Presley - singer
- Freddie Prinze - comic, actor (Chico and the Man), self-inflicted gunshot wound while under the influence of Quaaludes
Q
- Karen Ann Quinlan put into an extreme vegetative state by tranquilizers and alcohol died, 1985,
- Glenn Quinn - actor (Roseanne, Angel)
- Robert Quine - punk rock guitarist
R
- Dee Dee Ramone - of the Ramones
- Alex Ramsdell - jaz pianist
- Johnny Ray - musician
- Wallace Reid - actor
- Elis Regina - singer
- Rob Graves Ritter - of Thelonius Monster, Gun Club, the Bags, 45 Grave
- Peter Rosen - War
- Michael Rudetski - keyboardist, Culture Club
- David Ruffin - of the Temptations
S
- Stefanie Sargent - of 7 Year Bitch
- Bon Scott - of AC/DC, inhalation of own vomit
- George Scott III - bass guitarist
- Phil Seaman - singer
- Jean Seberg - actress
- Edie Sedgewick - actress
- Will Shatter - of Flipper, heroin
- Eddy Shaver - of Shaver
- Bobby Sheehan - of Blues Traveler
- Judee Sill - musician
- Hillel Slovak - of Red Hot Chili Peppers, heroin
- Richard Sohl - of The Patti Smith Group
- Epic Soundtracks - of Swell Maps
- Layne Staley - of Alice in Chains
- Willian Stewart - doo wop singer, of Johnny Bragg & the Prisonaires
- Bob Stinson - of the Replacements
- Neil Storey - of the Dragon
- Rory Storm - musician
- Screaming Lord Sutch - singer, Prozac
T
- Dallas Taylor - of the Danderliers
- Vinnie Taylor - of Sha Na Na, heroin
- Gary Thain - of Uriah Heep
- Johnny Thunders - of the New York Dolls, alcohol and methadone
- Dylan Thomas - poet, "an alcoholic insult to the brain."
- Georg Trakl - playwright
- Steven James Turner - of Clock DVA
- Dick Twardzick - pianist
U
V
- Townes Van Zandt - musician
- Lupe Vélez, actress
- Sid Vicious - of the Sex Pistols, heroin
- Gene Vincent - rock and roll musician, liver damage caused by alcohol
W
- Dave Waller - musician
- Dinah Washington - singer
- Freddie Webster - jazz trumpeter
- Brett Whiteley - painter
- Keith Whitley - country musician, alcohol poisoning
- Danny Whitten - of Crazy Horse, heroin
- Hank Williams - country musician, overdose of painkillers, born with painful back deformation
- Alan Wilson - of Canned Heat
- Dennis Wilson - of the Beach Boys, exact cause of death unknown, alcohol-related drowning is a strong possibility
- Andrew Wood - of Mother Love Bone