14 Rock Acts Who’ve Had Brushes With Death

Living the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle is not always glamorous. From freak accidents to excessive partying, the stage and the road can be a dangerous place. We’ve seen musicians soldier on, taking the stage in spite of injuries or tragedies, proving they are the warriors we believe them to be. Never knowing when a show could be their last, these rockers came all too close to never seeing the stage, or anything or anyone else again

Slash

Guns N’ Roses axeman Slash was a wild one, just like the rest of the band. As rampant drug abusers, the band had a reputation for debauchery. Slash took things to a new excess one night and overdosed in a hotel, experiencing cardiac arrest for eight minutes. A shot of adrenaline did the trick and Slash was back from the dead, a feeling he said he’s experienced “a bunch of times.” He even checked himself out of the hospital and headed off to the next show.

Baroness

On Aug. 15, 2012, Baroness’ tour bus plummeted 30 feet over a viaduct in Bath, England, leaving band and crew members with severe injuries. Frontman John Baizley suffered a broken arm and leg, drummer Allek Blickle and bassist Matt Maggioni each suffered broken vertebrae and the band’s bus driver was in critical condition immediately after the accident. Though the recovery process was grueling, Baroness returned to action months later having dodged death.

Travis Barker

On Sept. 19, 2008, Travis Barker boarded a small plane with five others, including two pilots, on a charter flight from South Carolina to California. The plane had issues during takeoff stemming from under-inflated tires that blew out and a pilot error aborting the takeoff at high speed. The crash resulted in the death of everyone on board, save for Barker and his friend Adam ‘DJ AM’ Goldstein. The Blink-182 drummer suffered second and third degree burns that covered one-third of his body.

Duff McKagan

On May 10, 1994, Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan nearly died from acute alcohol-induced pancreatis that saw the organ swell so large it could have been tossed around in an NFL game. Leaking digestive enzymes, McKagan received third degree burns. Treating the near-death at just 30 years old as a wake-up call, he took up mountain biking to keep his mind focused after exiting the hospital.

Philip Anselmo

Philip Anselmo has openly talked about his history with drug abuse, most specifically heroin. After injuring his back, Anselmo abused alcohol, pills and eventually heroin to numb the pain. On July 13, 1996, the Pantera frontman went into cardiac arrest and was revived by paramedics. The band made a press statement four days after, stating, “I, Philip H. Anselmo…injected a lethal dose of heroin into my arm, and died for four to five minutes.”

Scott Stapp

While under the influence of a host of drugs and alcohol in 2006, Creed frontman Scott Stapp was hallucinating and believed he was being chased in his hotel room in Miami Beach. In an attempt to flee, he leapt out the 16th floor window and plummeted 40 feet to a balcony below, fracturing his skull and breaking his hip and skull. Rapper T.I. heard someone groaning outside and checked to see what had happened. His discovery of the singer, in all likelihood, saved his life.

Taylor Hawkins

While on tour with the Foo Fighters in the early 2000s, drummer Taylor Hawkins got a bit too wild, overdosing on heroin and entering a two-week coma. His bandmate Dave Grohl was by his side the entire time, waiting for his drummer and friend to wake up. The documentary ‘Foo Fighters: Back and Forth’ detailed the event, though Hawkins is generally uncomfortable with the openness of this information.

Ozzy Osbourne

While going for a casual ATV ride around his estate, the Prince of Darkness almost met his end on Dec. 8, 2003. Ozzy Osbourne hit a pothole in the lawn, which caused the vehicle to flip over and on top of the singer. His bodyguard was nearby and reacted quickly, possibly preventing the worst from happening. Osbourne allegedly stopped breathing for over a minute and had no pulse. After being resuscitated, the singer came back around, but still had eight broken ribs, a broken collarbone, a broken vertebra in his neck, pinched blood vessels and blood in his lungs to contend with.

Metallica

Everyone is familiar with the tragic bus crash that killed Metallica bassist Cliff Burton, but it is often overlooked that the rest of the band could have just as easily had the same fate. On Sept. 27, 1986, the band’s tour bus allegedly hit a patch of black ice and began to swerve out of control. The bus veered off the road and flipped over, ejecting Burton through the window while asleep in a bunk that was originally Kirk Hammet’s. The rest of the band is fortunate to have escaped the accident alive.

Corey Taylor

During the recording of Slipknot’s ‘Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses,’ singer Corey Taylor was doing quite a bit of heavy drinking. One night he was about to fall off a balcony in a hotel, but luckily a friend grabbed him as he was tumbling over the edge. This event served as a wakeup call to Taylor to focus on sobriety.

Ace Frehley

During a KISS show in Florida on Dec. 12, 1976, guitarist Ace Frehley grabbed a rail while making his way down the staircase on stage after performing “Detroit Rock City” at the top of the setup. His contact with the metal surface, which was not grounded, caused the Spaceman to experience a wild jolt of electricity surging through his body. He was able to let go after initially being unable to move and tumbled down the stairs. He returned to the stage to finish the set and the even inspired the guitarist to write “Shock Me,” which was also his debut singing lead vocals on a song with KISS.

Al Jourgensen

Ministry’s Uncle Al could probably hold down every spot on this list himself as there’s no counting how many times the industrial pioneer may have died. One event that sticks out in particular is when we lost 65 percent of his blood on March 27, 2010. After constantly throwing up blood and seeing it pour from just about every orifice he has, Al Jourgensen collapsed and was rushed to the hospital with a blood pressure reading of 30 over 20. To his discovery, he had 13 ulcers in his esophagus and stomach. Further medical exploration found six were bleeding and seven had scarred over.

Nikki Sixx

Motely Crue bassist Nikki Sixx had a near-fatal heroin overdose (he claims to have overdosed six times) on Dec. 23, 1987. After receiving a shot of adrenaline, the bassist said he had an out of body experience and saw himself on a gurney being brought into an ambulance. He later on walked out of the hospital after ripping all the tubes out and saw two girls outside sitting around a candle, lamenting the news on the radio that Sixx had died. He spoke with the girls, who gave him a ride home. The event inspired the Crue hit, “Kickstart My Heart.”

Deryck Whibley

in May 2014, Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley revealed he had been in the hospital for the last month, recovering from collapsed kidneys and liver due to heavy drinking over the years. Whibley said doctors told him if he has one more drink, he can die. The news was sobering, inspiring him to abandon alcohol and get back to writing music.