Monday, December 7, 2015

Unusual Musician Deaths

Obviously I am completely stuck for an topic today so here I am, clutching at straws. What were the most unusual musician deaths? No, this is not a contest, but rather an opportunity for my readers to show their knowledge. Let me hasten to underline the word unusual. Choking on your own (or someone else's) vomit due to a heroin overdose was so common for pop musicians in the late 60s and early 70s that I really don't think it counts as unusual (Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Mama Kass...).

Let me get you started:

  • Hungarian/British composer Matyas Seiber: Wikipedia says he died of a car accident in South Africa, but I heard that he was eaten by a lion
  • Jaco Pastorius was beaten to death by a bouncer
  • Jean-Baptiste Lully died as a result of hitting himself in the foot with his conducting staff (used prior to the baton) causing him to get gangrene and die three days later
  • Alban Berg died from blood poisoning contracted from a bee sting on his back
  • Ernst Chausson was riding a bicycle, lost control and crashed into a brick wall, dying instantly
  • Les Harvey, guitarist for ’70s blues-rock band Stone the Crows, died onstage in front of 1,000 fans on May 3, 1972 when he was electrocuted while tuning up for a show in Swansea, Wales.
  • Terry Kath, lead guitarist for Chicago, accidentally shot himself in the head with a pistol
Add your contributions in the comments. For inspiration, here is the last piece finished by Alban Berg, his Violin Concerto:


2 comments:

A.C. Douglas said...

Webern innocently stepped outside his Salzburg house one evening in 1945 to enjoy a smoke unaware a curfew had been established by the Allied occupying forces. He was shot dead by an American soldier who saw him light his cigar and thought him one of the enemy.

ACD

Bryan Townsend said...

The dangers of smoking have not been exaggerated!