Pick a Day

Music History Events: Drug-Related

August 10, 1972 Paul and Linda McCartney are arrested backstage in Gothenburg, Sweden, for possession of six ounces of marijuana, which was mailed to them by someone in McCartney's office who thought they would like some weed on the road. The couple are released after paying a combined fine of $1,200.

April 20, 1971 Five friends at San Rafael High School in California coin the term "4:20" as a euphemism for smoking pot. April 20th becomes a popular day to spark one up, as does 4:20 pm. Note that the Boston song "Smokin'" clocks in at 4 minutes, 20 seconds, and if you multiply the title numbers in Bob Dylan's "Rainy Day Women #12 And #35," you get 420. Dude!More

November 7, 1970 MGM Records president Mike Curb announces that his label is dumping 18 acts that "exploit and promote hard drugs through music."More

October 4, 1970 Janis Joplin is found dead at the Landmark Hotel in Los Angeles after a heroin overdose. She was just 27.More

September 18, 1970 Jimi Hendrix is found dead in his basement. He had taken nine pills of the barbiturate Vesparax, that along with alcohol, caused a fatal overdose.More

February 28, 1968 Frankie Lymon dies of a heroin overdose at age 25.

February 10, 1968 Rolling Stone magazine offers free roach clips to new subscribers.More

January 26, 1968 At the University of Southampton, Pink Floyd play their first gig without founding member Syd Barrett, who never returns to the band. The 22-year-old Barrett is an early acid casualty, no longer able to contribute to the group.

May 20, 1967 Because of the line, "I'd love to turn you on," the BBC bans The Beatles song "A Day In The Life," claiming it may promote drug use.

February 12, 1967 Police raid Keith Richards' Redlands estate, where they discover "various substances of a suspicious nature" and arrest him along with Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull. The whole thing is a setup.More

June 12, 1966 After buying pot from an undercover cop posing as a student at his high school, Steven Tallarico is arrested and charged with drug possession. He is given a year's probation and labelled a "Youthful Offender," which later keeps him from getting drafted. Tallarico later becomes Steven Tyler and forms Aerosmith.

June 11, 1966 Donovan becomes the first rock star busted for drugs by the newly vigilant London drug squad.More

July 13, 2024 Headlining the Beach, Please! festival in Costinesti, Romania, Wiz Khalifa smokes an enormous marijuana cigarette on stage, landing him in trouble with the authorities. In December 2025 he's sentenced in absentia to nine months in prison, essentially banning him from the country.

May 1, 2013 Chris Kelly of the rap duo Kris Kross dies at age 34 after overdosing on heroin and cocaine. The duo were teenagers when they had their #1 hit "Jump" in 1992; they also opened for Michael Jackson on his Dangerous tour that year.

December 28, 2009 Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan (drummer and co-lead vocalist for Avenged Sevenfold) dies from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs and alcohol at age 28. The coroner also notes cardiomegaly (an enlarged heart) which may have contributed to his death.

August 28, 2009 Adam "DJ AM" Goldstein dies of what is ruled as an accidental overdose at age 36 in his New York City apartment. This comes nearly a year after AM and his friend Travis Barker survived a fatal plane crash that claimed the lives of four others.

May 24, 2009 Former Wilco guitarist Jay Bennett dies in his sleep from an accidental overdose of a prescription painkiller at age 45.

January 22, 2008 British tabloid The Sun posts video they claim is of Amy Winehouse smoking crack. The 24-year-old singer has been in and out of rehab, and is clearly in ill health. The video was apparently taken by a guest at her home.

December 4, 2007 Pimp C (real name Charles Lamont Butler) is found dead in a West Hollywood, California, hotel room. The 33-year-old rapper had ingested promethazine and codeine, drugs used in the "purple drank" referred to in many rap songs.

November 19, 2007 Kevin DuBrow (lead vocalist for Quiet Riot) dies of a presumed accidental cocaine overdose at age 52. He is found in his Las Vegas home six days later.

June 1, 2007 Tony Thompson (lead singer of Hi-Five) dies at age 31 after accidentally inhaling a toxic amount of freon.

May 31, 2007 Rob Grill, lead singer of The Grass Roots, is arrested for illegal possession of prescription painkillers at his home in Mount Dora, Florida.

December 15, 2006 Phish lead singer Trey Anastasio is arrested for driving while intoxicated and heroin possession, the climax of a life-threatening addiction that started when he got hooked on opioids six years earlier. After completing the court-ordered rehab, he gets sober, gets his life back together, and resumes work with the band.

October 11, 2006 The Darkness lead singer Justin Hawkins announces that he's leaving the British band to continue his drug rehabilitation. This shutters the band until 2011, which Hawkins returns.

October 2, 2006 Snoop Dogg guest stars on an episode of the Showtime series Weeds, where he jumpstarts Mary-Louise Parker's pot-growing business by placing a big order and doing a freestyle about it.

September 18, 2006 Willie Nelson's tour bus is stopped near Lafayette, Louisiana, and Nelson, along with four members of his band, are arrested for possession of marijuana and psychedelic mushrooms.

August 28, 2005 For the second time in two years, Art Garfunkel is arrested for marijuana possession.

August 23, 2005 Bay City Rollers' lead singer Les McKeown is arraigned on cocaine possession and distribution charges in London. He is eventually acquitted of the intent to distribute.

November 13, 2004 Ol' Dirty Bastard (of Wu-Tang Clan), real name Russell Tyrone Jones, dies of a drug overdose at age 35.

May 31, 2004 Rock guitarist Robert Quine, known for collaborations with Lou Reed, Marianne Faithfull, and Tom Waits, commits suicide by heroin overdose at age 61.