25 Notable Extremes Musicians Were Driven To By Drugs

A look back at music's greatest struggles with drug and alcohol addiction.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll, the old adage goes, though sometimes, people forget about the sex and rock and roll entirely.

With success as a musician comes many things: fame, pressure, money and a lifestyle that allows access to all manner of chemical substances. The history of popular music is chock full of stories of musicians and singers making questionable decisions in pursuit of misadventure and addiction, and, in some cases, losing everything as a result, leaving cautionary tales in their wake. 

These are 25 Notable Extremes That Musicians Were Driven to By Drugs

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Syd Barrett Melts Brylcreem in His Hair Onstage

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Sly Stone Ends Up Living in his Van

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Sid Vicious Charged With Murder, Overdoses on Heroin

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Scott Weiland Buys Heroin While Dressed as a Pimp

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Rick James Holds a Woman Hostage and Burns Her with a Crack Pipe

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Red Hot Chili Peppers Lose Two Guitarists in a Row to Heroin

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Ozzy Osbourne Snorts a Line of Ants

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Ol' Dirty Bastard Forces Son to Watch Him Do Drugs

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Neil Young Needs Special Effect to Hide Coke in his Nostril

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Motley Crue's Nikki Sixx Dies and Then Changes His Answering Machine Message

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Michael Jackson Uses Dangerous Anesthesia to Sleep

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Meat Puppets' Cris Kirkwood Gets Shot at the Post Office, Goes to Prison

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Marianne Faithfull Ends Up Homeless

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Kurt Cobain Kills Himself Twice

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James Brown Pulls a Shotgun on Someone for Using His Toilet

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Guns N' Roses Izzy Stradlin Ends Up in a Coma for 96 Hours After Swallowing Drugs

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DMX Claims to be an FBI Agent After Crashing Car

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David Crosby Rams Car into a Wall While High and Armed

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David Bowie Thinks Witches Are Stealing His Semen

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Courtney Love Flashes David Letterman, Assaults Fan

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Britney Spears Shaves Head, Bashes Paparazzi's Car with an Umbrella

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Brian Wilson Gets Kicked Out of the Beach Boys

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Aerosmith Not Done With Mirrors

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The Rolling Stones’ Brian Jones Dies in his Swimming Pool

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Whitney Houston Proclaims ‘Crack Is Wack’

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