Today, July 27, marks the 35th anniversary of AC/DC's Highway To Hell, a hard rock classic that would be the band's last album with lead vocalist Bon Scott, who died after a night of heavy drinking seven months after the album's release. Here are ten more bands that have suffered the loss of a lead vocalist.
1. The Doors
Perhaps the most infamous member of the "27 Club" is Doors frontman Jim Morrison, who died in Paris during 1971 of an unknown cause (though some theories involve a drug overdose or hemorrhaging). The remaining Doors would go on to record three more albums without Morrison, including An American Prayer, which consisted of spoken word recordings of Morrison's poetry.
2. Lynyrd Skynrd
In 1977, a plane crash in Mississippi claimed the lives of three members of Southern rock legends Lynyrd Skynyrd, including lead vocalist Ronnie Van Zandt. Though the band split after the tragedy, it would regroup in 1987. Today, guitarist Gary Rossington is the only original member of the band remaining.
3. T. Rex
The only constant member of glam rock band T. Rex was its lead vocalist and songwriter Marc Bolan, who died in a car crash in 1977 at age 29. Unlike many other groups of similarly legendary status, T. Rex has never reunited, since T. Rex without Marc Bolan is pretty pointless.
4. Joy Division
Right before the legendary post-punk band Joy Division was to set out on its first U.S. tour in 1980, lead vocalist Ian Curtis committed suicide at age 23, after years of battling depression and epilepsy. The remaining members of Joy Division would go on to form the highly successful synth-pop band New Order, with guitarist Bernard Sumner taking over on vocals.
5. The Germs
One of the most important acts of the original L.A. punk scene, the Germs only had the chance to release one album, 1979's (GI), before lead vocalist Darby Crash committed suicide in 1980. The band reformed in 2007 with actor Shane West on vocals, after he had portrayed Crash in the film What We Do Is Secret.
6. Minutemen
California post-punk trio the Minutemen released four studio albums before disbanding in 1985, after guitarist and lead singer D. Boon died in a car crash in Arizona. Bassist Mike Watt and drummer George Hurley would form Firehose the next year, with Ed Crawford on guitar and vocals.
7. Queen
Though Queen is still an active touring band, it's far from the same band as it was in the '70s and '80s. Lead singer Freddie Mercury passed away in 1991 of an AIDS-related illness, and has since been replaced by Bad Company singer Paul Rodgers and American Idol finalist Adam Lambert.
8. Mayhem
Perhaps the most notorious metal band of all time is Norwegian black metal band Mayhem, whose lead vocalist Per Ohlin (a.k.a. Dead) committed suicide in 1991. What makes Ohlin's suicide more disturbing, however, is that upon discovering his body, guitarist Øystein Aarseth (a.k.a. Euronymous) bought a disposable camera and took a photograph of the body before calling the police, and allegedly used pieces of Ohlin's skull to make necklaces. Aarseth himself was murdered by bassist Varg Vikernes (a.k.a. Count Grischnackh) two years later, and the photograph he took of Ohlin's corpse was eventually used as the cover of the album Dawn of the Black Hearts (WARNING: that album cover is very disturbing, obviously).
9. Nirvana
Likely the most famous suicide in rock history, Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain took his own life in 1994 after years of depression and a worsening heroin addiction. Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl would, of course, go on to form the highly successful Foo Fighters the following year.
10. Dio
Perhaps the only person on this list to have not died tragically young is Dio frontman Ronnie James Dio, who passed away of stomach cancer in 2010 at age 67.
What other bands had their lead singers pass away? Let us know in the comments section!
