- 1 year ago
The music world has lost too many legends while they were on the road. Join us as we remember iconic artists who tragically passed away during tours. From plane crashes to health emergencies, these unexpected deaths shocked fans worldwide and changed music history forever. Which of these heartbreaking losses affected you most? Let us know in the comments.
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00:00Damage Plan was wrapping up a two-month club tour at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio.
00:05But the gig would quickly turn tragic.
00:09Welcome to WatchMojo.
00:11And today, we're looking at musicians who tragically passed away while they were on tour.
00:17I think Randy Rowe's legacy, sure, it will be for playing with Ozzy, but really his legacy is his playing.
00:25Taylor Hawkins.
00:26Dave Grohl might be the nicest guy in rock and roll, but his bandmate Taylor Hawkins was just as beloved.
00:33Taylor, what do you think of the band name?
00:35See, I thought it was really cool.
00:36You liked it?
00:37Yeah.
00:37As a longtime member of the Foo Fighters, Hawkins was known for his onstage charisma and lending his vocals to several fan favorites.
00:45But on an ill-fated 2022 tour, the 50-year-old Hawkins was reportedly exhausted by the work involved, although accounts vary.
00:55Hawkins was found dead in his hotel room in Columbia nearly a week ago at just 50 years old.
01:00But on March 25th, after calling emergency services due to chest pains, Hawkins was found unresponsive upon their arrival.
01:08Urine toxicology reports indicated that there were 10 different substances in his body.
01:13The death was a huge shock to fans of the band and to the music world as a whole, leading to a number of tributes from his contemporaries, family, and friends.
01:22He's a member of our family, and he needs to be here tonight with all of us.
01:30And I think it makes sense that he's going to come up and play with us tonight.
01:34Ladies and gentlemen, would you please welcome Mr. Shane Hawkins on the drums.
01:39Jim Croce.
01:43The legendary folk rock singer Jim Croce had just walked off stage after a gig in Natchitoches, one hour before boarding a plane to Sherman, Texas.
01:53The date was September 20th, 1973.
01:56Jim planned to play this concert, finish the tour, then he would go home for good.
02:00He was in the middle of a 45-day tour.
02:03Just one day before the release of a single, I got a name.
02:06But in a tragic turn of events, the plane would never land.
02:10Jim Croce was headed to another show in Texas, but he would never arrive.
02:15Jim Croce would never see his wife or his child again.
02:19The exact reason for the crash is not 100% confirmed, but foggy conditions made visibility a real problem for the pilots.
02:27When the plane crashed shortly after takeoff, Croce and the five others on board lost their lives.
02:34Croce was 30 years old at the time and was considering pivoting from music to script writing, a development that was cut short before it began.
02:42News of the tragedy spread quickly.
02:44It was one of those moments when you go, what?
02:49It's like, it's not real.
02:51Chris Cornell
02:52Chris Cornell was the beloved frontman of Soundgarden and Audioslave, among other projects.
02:58I'll wait for you there like a stone
03:07Through the 1990s and 2000s, he carved out a reputation as one of the most impressive singers in rock music.
03:14His powerful voice was regularly complimented by fellow greats, including Axl Rose and Ronnie James Dio.
03:21It was always this experimental mood and this experimental feeling in terms of approaching songwriting and even making records.
03:31However, a long battle with depression would eventually cause him to take his own life after performing a show with Soundgarden in Detroit, Michigan.
03:39The music world, as well as Cornell's family and friends were shocked as this seemingly came out of nowhere.
03:46He was 52 years old at the time of his passing.
03:49This news has just stunned everybody.
03:52Came out of nowhere, 52 years old.
03:54Scott Weiland
03:55Scott Weiland's work as the frontman of Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver made him one of the standout singers of his era.
04:02But his turbulent relationship with substances led to some issues with the law and his bandmates, often in very high-profile fashion.
04:11There has been some discussion regarding his leaving that lifestyle behind, with Weiland himself claiming he had been off drugs since 2002.
04:28However, during a tour with his band, The Wildabouts, things took a tragic turn.
04:33Scott Weiland, the former frontman for 90s megaband Stone Temple Pilots and then the Velvet Revolver, has died.
04:39You can see him in his new band, Scott Weiland, in The Wildabouts, here in Montclair, New Jersey, last Saturday.
04:45The band were set to perform in Rochester, Minnesota.
04:48But on December 3rd, Weiland was found unresponsive on his tour bus.
04:53He was declared dead, with the official reason being an accidental overdose of substances and alcohol.
04:59An autopsy later revealed a toxic combination of drugs and alcohol in Weiland's bloodstream, as well as signs of cardiovascular disease and asthma.
05:07Cliff Burton. The tragedy of Cliff Burton is one that feels surreal, even to this day.
05:13All know Cliff Burton over here. Everyone.
05:17Hi Cliff, how you doing?
05:19Beloved by fans of Metallica due to his base work on seminal albums like Kill Em All and Master of Puppets,
05:27Burton's life would unfortunately end in shocking fashion.
05:30While the band were touring 1986's Master of Puppets, their tour bus was involved in a crash while they were sleeping.
05:37And I heard everyone screaming except for Cliff.
05:41And I thought, oh my god, something's wrong.
05:43With no safety belts or harness to protect him, Burton was flung out of the window and killed instantly.
05:49He was just 24 years old at the time.
05:52The bus driver claimed there was black ice on the road, but no ice was found.
05:57Metallica eventually persevered, but it was a moment that changed the band forever.
06:02Early Saturday morning, September 27th, 1986, on the road near Jungby, Sweden, Cliff Burton died.
06:10Within hours, news of Cliff's death reached Metallica's fans in America.
06:16Randy Rhoades.
06:17The death of former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Randy Rhoades was so avoidable that it almost hurts to think about it.
06:24In the early 80s, 25-year-old Randy Rhoades was a rising guitar god ready to take over the rock world.
06:30Sadly, he never got the chance.
06:32With the band fast asleep, the mischievous Rhodes, along with pilot Andrew Aycock and Rachel Youngblood, decided to take a late-night joyride in a small plane.
06:43The goal?
06:44To try and fly the craft as close to the tour bus as possible in order to play a prank.
06:49He thought it would be funny to repeatedly buzz Ozzy's tour bus.
06:56You know, it would freak everybody out.
06:57The first couple of attempts were not close enough for Aycock.
07:01On the final attempt, the wing of the plane clipped the band's tour bus, causing a crash that killed all three passengers.
07:08Rhodes was 25 years old at the time.
07:11It was mind-blowing.
07:13Like, how does that happen?
07:16And why are you in a plane doing this?
07:19Stevie Ray Vaughan.
07:20Unlike many tragic figures, the legendary Stevie Ray Vaughan successfully kicked a long-standing alcohol and substance addiction in 1986.
07:30When Stevie Ray Vaughan broke into the mainstream in the early 1980s, he cut a distinctive and contradictory figure.
07:37Seemingly archaic and out-of-date, yet also explosive and refreshingly different.
07:41But in 1990, following a jam session at Alpine Valley Music Theater, Vaughan, accompanied by his bodyguard, agent, and tour manager, boarded a helicopter.
07:52They were to be flown to an airport in Chicago.
07:55However, the helicopter crashed into a nearby ski hill not too long after takeoff, killing all five men instantly.
08:02Poor weather conditions and hilly terrain were to blame.
08:06An estimated 3,000 people showed up to pay their respects to the 35-year-old at his funeral, including Stevie Wonder, Bonnie Raitt, and members of ZZ Top.
08:16The end of the final decade of his life was, however, remarkable, not only for his successful rehabilitation, but for the renewed passion he brought to his music.
08:26Ronnie Van Zant and Steve Gaines.
08:28Not many bands have been ravaged by one particular incident, quite like Southern rock legend's Leonard Skinner.
08:36At the very last minute, Ronnie Van Zant, hey, okay, the pilot said everything's good, let's go.
08:43If it's your time to go, it's your time to go.
08:45Ronnie Van Zant just didn't know it was his time to go.
08:49Following a 1977 performance in Greenville, the band boarded a plane to Baton Rouge, but ran out of fuel mid-flight.
08:57Upon attempting an emergency landing, they crashed into a heavily forested area.
09:03There wasn't anything you could do about it, so you just buckled up and prayed.
09:06Five people were killed, including singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, his sister, and backing singer to the band, Casey Gaines, along with their assistant road manager and the pilot and his co-pilot.
09:19Aside from a few performances, the band were utterly incapable of continuing for another decade until they reformed with Ronnie's brother, Johnny Van Zant, on lead vocals.
09:29I guess I'm a funny guy.
09:31I never tried to be Ronnie.
09:32I never wore a cowboy hat.
09:34I never went barefooted.
09:36But I just wanted to be Johnny.
09:39Dimebag Daryl Abbott.
09:41Pantera guitarist Dimebag Daryl Abbott's legacy as one of the greatest metal guitarists of his era was already established by 2004.
09:49But during a performance in Columbus, Ohio that year, Dimebag was shot and killed by a fan during the first song of his band, Damage Plans, set.
10:06Three others were killed in the chaos, with a further three sustaining injuries.
10:12The perpetrator, Nathan Gale, was gunned down by a police officer before he was able to keep shooting.
10:17The former Pantera guitarist was performing with his band, Damage Plan, which included his brother at the Alrosa Villa December 8, 2004, when a gunman rushed the stage and shot him several times.
10:31Gale had previously been discharged from the U.S. Marine Corps due to his paranoid schizophrenia and may have believed a higher power was compelling him to carry out his crime.
10:41Dimebag was pronounced dead at the scene, aged 38.
10:45Fellow rock stars such as Eddie Van Halen, Gene Simmons, and Zach Wilde all paid their respects at his funeral.
10:53It was a tragedy that no one could have seen coming.
10:57It was like a real bad movie. None of it seemed real whatsoever. None of it.
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11:16Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper.
11:22February 3rd, 1959.
11:25Otherwise known as the day the music died, was a moment in music history that truly shook the world to its core.
11:33When it finally sunk in to my head that he and Richie and the Big Bopper and the young pilot Roger were dead, it was just like, from that point on, it was just like somebody turning the lights out.
11:47Upon leaving Clear Lake, Iowa by plane after a performance, legendary musicians Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper J.P. Richardson all perished in an infamous crash.
11:59They were in the middle of a 24-day tour when their bus kept breaking down.
12:04They opted to use a plane instead.
12:06The next night, Richie won a coin toss to get his seat on that small plane.
12:12It crashed shortly after takeoff.
12:14But when the vehicle crashed into a field, all three were killed, along with their pilots.
12:20The day was, of course, immortalized in Don McLean's song, American Pie.
12:25But make no mistake, 12 years before, when it actually happened, this news brought the music world to its knees.
12:33The day the music died, as that phrase goes, it was a seed.
12:37And in that seed was Richie and Buddy and the Big Bopper.
12:42Have we missed any other tragic deaths of musicians that occurred on tour?
12:47Let us know in the comments section below.
12:50In a sense, Jim Croce wrote the soundtrack for his own life.
12:54And in the process, with each note, each lyric, each story, we all learned a little something about ourselves.
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