Legends of curses have circulated across the rock ‘n’ roll business for the reason that early 1900s. Some are primarily based on truth, whereas others are solely made up. The dearth of science behind somebody supposedly studying guitar expertise from the satan hasn’t stopped individuals from believing in these curses, although.
For those who dream of rocking out on stage, you may wish to watch out, as a result of rock musicians appear to draw paranormal malice. Even should you keep away from Faustian bargains and receiving tune lyrics from Charles Manson, you continue to would possibly get voodooed. Listed here are a number of supposed curses that terrorized rock ‘n’ roll bands.
Led Zepplin’s Faustian Discount
Shortly after the band fashioned in 1968, a rumor unfurled that three of the 4 founding members–Robert Plant, Jimmy Web page, and John Bonham–made a Faustian cope with the satan to carry them fame. Whereas the band did develop into profitable, the three members later suffered from the supposed curse.
Plant ended up in a severe automotive crash, which left him unable to stroll for a while. Afterward, his younger son Karac died from an unidentified abdomen virus. Bonham handed away from dependancy in 1980, ending Led Zepplin. Web page struggled by way of a decade-long dependancy to medicine. Solely John Paul Jones, the one member who supposedly didn’t partake within the ritual, survived comparatively unscathed.
The Twenty-Seven Membership Curse
For the reason that late Thirties, musicians and artists from all genres have ceaselessly handed away at age 27. In simply 4 years (1969-1971), Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Brian Jones, and Jim Morrison all died at that age. By the point Kurt Cobain died at 27 in 1994, the curse had entrenched itself into rock ‘n’ roll legends.
In 2011, a examine within the British Medicinal Journal concluded that there aren’t any greater well being dangers for rock stars of their twenty seventh yr of life. That doesn’t cease individuals from believing within the curse, although.
Robert Johnson And The Crossroads Pact
Robert Johnson was a blues guitarist whose methods influenced numerous rock bands, together with the Rolling Stones. Based on legend, Johnson took his guitar to a crossroads in Mississippi at midnight. The satan appeared, tuned his guitar, performed a few songs, and handed it again to Johnson. This encounter supposedly gave the musician award-winning music expertise.
The curse arose after Johnson’s loss of life, which oddly occurred when he was simply 27. No reason behind loss of life was launched. Rock bands who lined his tune “Crossroads” have met unwell fates afterward. Cream recorded a canopy of “Crossroads” shortly earlier than they break up up. Their guitarist, Eric Clapton, struggled with drug and alcohol dependancy and later witnessed his son’s loss of life.
Lynyrd Skynyrd Suffers From The Crossroads Curse
One band who lined “Crossroads” in 1976 appeared to undergo from Johnson’s curse. Lynyrd Skynyrd confronted tragedy quickly after its inception. Their unique drummer, Robert Burns Jr., died in a automotive crash. Founding members Allen Collins and Gary Rossington nearly shared his destiny in 1976.
Worst of all, on the top of the band’s recognition in 1977, Lynyrd Skynyrd’s airplane crashed into the Mississippi. Ronnie Van Zant, Steve and Cassie Features, and band supervisor Dean Kilpatrick all died on impression. The remainder of the band struggled with emotional trauma and dependancy for the remainder of their days.
Waylon Jennings Forged A Curse On Buddy Holly
Buddy Holly was a singer-songwriter who pioneered Nineteen Fifties rock ‘n’ roll. Waylon Jennings was Holly’s bassist. On February 3, 1959, Holly and different rockstars boarded a airplane to their subsequent gig. Since there have been few seats, Jennings opted to take the bus seat as a substitute. Holly joked, “I hope you ol’ bus freezes up!” to which Jennings replied, “I hope your ol’ airplane crashes!”
The airplane did crash. Buddy Holly and his fellow members died, marking “The Day the Music Died.” The rumor of Jennings’ “curse” did not assist alleviate his guilt. He carried that grief for the remainder of his life.
Buddy Holly’s Curse Spreads
One more reason that followers imagine that Buddy Holly was cursed is as a result of after the airplane crash, everybody related to Holly met a bitter finish. Holly’s spouse, Maria Elena Santiago, was pregnant when he died. Shortly after, she suffered a miscarriage.
Ronnie Smith, a member of Holly’s earlier band, hanged himself a number of years after the crash. His shut good friend and fellow artist Eddie Cochran died in a taxi accident at age 21. Even individuals concerned within the manufacturing of The Buddy Holly Story had dangerous issues occur to them. Screenwriter Robert Gitler dedicated suicide and actor Gary Busey was in a horrible bike accident. Keith Moon, drummer for the Who, died of an overdose after watching The Buddy Holly Story on September 7, 1978. September 7 was Holly’s birthday.
Eddie & The Scorching Rods Anger An Occultist
In 1977, Eddie & The Scorching Rods launched their single, “Do Something You Wanna Do.” The tune was impressed by occultist Aleister Crowley’s Legislation of Thelema, “Do what thou wilt is the entire of the regulation.” They even determined to place Crowley on the duvet with a comical pair of Mickey Mouse ears on his head.
No, it wasn’t Crowley who acquired upset (he died in 1947), however considered one of his devoted followers, Jimmy Web page. Rumor has it that Web page solid a curse on the band, after which the musicians dropped their label and by no means reached the High Ten chart once more.
The Seashore Boys Obtained Malicious Magic From Charles Manson
After the Seashore Boys launched “By no means Be taught To not Love,” rumor unfold that Charles Manson wrote that tune for them. Not like different rock city legends, this one is solely true. Manson handed the lyrics on to drummer Dennis Wilson, who modified the title and adopted it. As a result of Manson practiced the occult, some individuals imagine that he handed on a curse by way of that tune.
The Seashore Boys suffered merciless punishments from their father, Murry Wilson. Brian Wilson believed that he was being watched and that his songs influenced the actual world. He acquired recognized with schizophrenia. Dennis ended up homeless and addicted, and ultimately drowned in Marina Del Rey whereas drunk and making an attempt to recuperate gadgets he’d thrown into the marina years earlier.
Harry Nilsson’s Cursed House
When singer Harry Nilsson realized what number of deaths occurred in his residence in Mayfair, London, he left. In 1974, Mama Cass of the Mamas & the Papas died in her sleep from coronary heart failure there. 4 years later, the drummer of The Who, Keith Moon, additionally died there on the similar age. Each had been 32 years previous.
Harry Nilsson had loaned out the Flat 12, 9 Curzon Place residence to each musicians. He disowned the residence after the deaths. Later, The Who’s lead singer Pete Townshend purchased the area to forestall it from changing into a vacationer lure.
The Curse Of The Fleetwood Mac Guitarist
Ever since Fleetwood Mac fashioned within the late ’60s, their guitarists have gone off the rails in a method or one other. Their first guitarist, Peter Inexperienced, entered an LSD craze and instructed the band supervisor he was Jesus. He turned so obsessive about immortality that he left the band, later getting recognized with schizophrenia.
Slide guitarist Jeremy Spencer left a tour to purchase {a magazine} and by no means returned. Days later, the band discovered that he had joined the Youngsters of God cult. Bob Welch was a guitarist previous to Lindsay Buckingham. He shot himself in 2012. Most notoriously, Danny Kirwan misplaced his mood onstage and banged his head repeatedly in opposition to the wall. After many troubled years, he died in his sleep in 2018.
The Cobain Curse
After Kurt Cobain died by suicide in 1994, Nirvana followers all over the world questioned what pushed the singer that far. Cobain’s widow, Courtney Love, revealed that suicidal tendencies ran far again by way of his household, calling this genetic affect the “Cobain curse.”
The one different confirmed Cobain suicide occurred in 1979, when Kurt’s uncle, Burle, tried to kill himself twice by way of gunshot. Rumors unfold that extra relations had the psychological sickness. Past the curse idea, analysis has demonstrated that genetics do affect suicidal tendencies to some extent.
Judas Priest Delivers Satanic Messages
All through the ’80s and ’90s, the “Satanic Panic” rippled by way of the U.S. The band Judas Priest acquired the worst of it once they had been sued by a mom, who claimed that her two boys tried suicide (one survived) after listening to their music. She theorized that the band positioned the backmasked lyrics “do it” in “Higher by You, Higher Than Me” which possessed the boys to self-harm.
The tune’s supposed curse misplaced all credibility when the decide found that the Priest did admit to inserting backmasked messages into the recording. Though the court docket case was dropped, the concept that rock music promotes Satanic messages nonetheless lives on.
Keyboardists Of The Grateful Useless All Meet Tragic Ends
Deadheads seemingly know that the primary 4 keyboardists of the Grateful Useless died earlier than age 38. Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, their first keyboardist and a founding member, died in 1971 from a gastrointestinal hemorrhage (and joined the 27 Membership).
Keith Godchaux joined the band subsequent. In 1979, he died in a automotive accident after he left the band. The third keyboard participant, Brent Mydland, died of an overdose in 1990. Extra not too long ago, Vince Welnick reportedly dedicated suicide in 2006. His last album, launched postmortem, was titled “I am Scared.” These deaths have added as much as the Grateful Useless Keyboardist Curse.
The Nineteen Nineties Have been A Cursed Decade For Rock
The ’90s starred a few of the best tragedies in rock historical past, together with the loss of life of Kurt Cobain and Richey Edward’s disappearance. With all of the disasters occurring, individuals started to suspect that some paranormal forces impacted rock and various musicians throughout the decade.
A number of musicians who unexpectedly handed away throughout the decade embody Andrew Wooden from Mom Love Bone, Shannon Hoon of Blind Melon, Bradley Nowell from Elegant, and Jonathon Melvoin of Smashing Pumpkins. All died abruptly from an overdose on the top of their group’s profession.
Badfinger Might’ve Excelled, If Not For The Curse
The members of Badfinger had been handsome, gifted, and had connections to the Beatles. Individuals referred to as them “the brand new Fab 4” and anticipated the band to rise to stardom. However every little thing that would go flawed, went flawed twice, and followers labeled their tragedy a curse that individuals nonetheless know them by right now.
The band struggled with its administration, with guitarist Peter Ham’s spouse taking management. They had been caught up in murky authorized conditions they could not claw themselves out of. In 1975, Ham took his personal life. The opposite guitarist, Tom Evans, adopted go well with eight years later.
AC/DC Struggles With Diabolical Forces
With the rise in recognition of the Led Zeppelin curse, followers anxious that AC/DC suffered from the same paranormal taking place when Bon Scott died in 1980. The notion of AC/DC’s curse light into obscurity till 2014, when issues began to get bizarre.
In 2014, guitarist Malcolm Younger started feeling the consequences of dementia and left the band to dwell in a nursing residence. That very same yr, drummer Phil Rudd was arrested for tried homicide by making an attempt to rent a hitman. The fees had been dropped, however now, the one unique member of the band is Angus Younger.
The Allman Brothers Band Motorbike Curse
Ever for the reason that Allman Brothers Band fashioned, the southern rock group appeared to crash into tragedy. Two years after the band started recording, founder and slide guitarist Duane Allman died tragically in a motorbike accident in Macon, Georgia. Whereas followers grieved his loss of life, nobody suspected a curse till bassist Berry Oakley crash his bike a yr later, three blocks from Allman’s deadly crash.
These two deaths made individuals suspect {that a} curse unfold all through the band. Duane’s brother Gregg Allman battled hepatitis C, drug abuse and, lastly, liver most cancers. In 2017, drummer Butch Vans took his life in entrance of his spouse.
San Francisco’s Final Present Curse
When the Black Keys performed their final present in 2015, they sensed the top coming–rockstar’s last efficiency tends to occur in San Francisco. Frontman Dan Auerbach instructed Uncut, “This might be a curse.” As an example, the Beatles’ delivered their last efficiency in Candlestick Park, feeling disconnected from their tour the entire time.
A decade after, the Band performed their Final Waltz within the Winterland Ballroom of San Francisco. They, too, had misplaced their ardour. The Intercourse Pistols’ solely tour had began off disastrously, and ended the identical way–also at Winterland Ballroom.
Useless Man’s Curve Turns into Useless Man’s Curse
When the rock duo Jan and Dean recorded Useless Man’s Curve in 1964, followers invented unusual interpretations of the tune. The lyrics element a teen who races one other driver in his Corvette Sting Ray. Nonetheless, some followers believed that the singers had been asking the universe to make them immortal.
The rumor unfold like wildfire when, in 1966, Jan crashed his Stingray right into a parked truck. Some variations of the story say he crashed on Useless Man’s Curve, however his accident occurred the subsequent road over, on North Whittier Drive. Though Jan narrowly survived, followers nonetheless believed that this happened from the curse.
Richey Edwards’ Mysterious Disappearance Raises Eyebrows
Richard Edwards was a Welsh rock and various guitarist within the band Manic Avenue Preachers. In 1995, on the day the band scheduled to fly to their U.S. tour, he took his pockets, automotive keys, and Prozac, and disappeared. To at the present time, he’s nonetheless a lacking individual.
With a disappearance as surprising as this, followers naturally speculated that one thing paranormal occurred, particularly as a result of his final recorded work was titled “The Holy Bible.” Sightings of the guitarist have popped up as not too long ago as 2018, main individuals to imagine that he might hang-out the earth, or staged his disappearance.