Music Blogs

62-year old Ola Brunkert, a former drummer for the Swedish pop band ABBA (and a household name in MY household) was found dead with cuts to his neck in his garden on the Spanish island of Mallorca. Police have ruled it an "accident." As any fan of Spinal Tap knows, being a drummer is dangerous business, especially where bizarre gardening accidents are concerned. While the Tap had their share of spontaneously exploding drummers, the rock world has lost its share of time-keepers. Here are five we remember fondly.

Jeff Porcaro - Toto: As Kurt Loder at MTV reported it at the time, Jeff Porcaro died in a bizarre gardening accident at the age of 38. This highly regarded session drummer actually died using a pesticide in his garden that it turned out he was allergic to that triggered a heart attack. For all the good luck in this man's career, there was a touch of irreversible bad luck that kinda trumped it all.

Keith Moon - The Who: No one was surprised when Keith Moon died. Anyone who ever watched the guy drum figured he'd die on stage, however. So reckless. So carefree. So oblivious to life's fragile existence. He died at the age of 32 after overindulging himself for the millionth time. Despite his young age, he had been famous for years. It's as if they built their rock stars younger back then.

John Bonham - Led Zeppelin: Hard drinking, hard living. No surprise here. These days they have celebrity rehab clinics and we're quicker to spot the drug and alcohol problems. How else have so many past and present members of Guns n' Roses been kept alive? But back in the ‘70s and early ‘80s, we didn't have the Candy Finnegans of the world to perform interventions in people's time of need.

Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley - Hanoi Rocks: Vince Neil will have to answer for this one. These guys were friends. But drunk driving kills. We have the statistics. More messed up is that it doesn't always kill the drunk driver but some poor guy walking on the side of the road trying to get home. In Razzle's case, he was in the passenger's seat and while others were injured, he pulled up the short straw and died.

Eric Carr -- Kiss: We at List Of The Day HATE cancer. If Eric Carr had fallen out of a plane or died trying to triple-pirouetted axle at his drum set, we would feel bad, but at least satisfied to know he did it in service of his craft, or trying to get a better look at the Statue of Liberty. But dying from an insidious disease that takes too many people too young, well, that's a damn shame no matter who you play for.