Shannon Hoon    9/26/1967 - 11/21/1995

Blind Melon's Shannon Hoon born September 26^th, 1967 began singing and playing music as a teenager, in addition to being a star high school athlete (wrestling, pole vaulting, etc.) and troublemaker (he was arrested several times).
He left Lafayette in 1990 for Los Angeles, where he soonafter formed Blind Melon with guitarists Rogers Stevens and Christopher Thorn, bassist Brad Smith, and drummer Glen Graham. Whereas the music scene in L.A. at the time was complete 'glam metal,' Blind Melon rebelled against it - looking back to such early-70's classic rockers as Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and The Grateful Dead for inspiration.
Hoon's angelic voice was often compared to Janis Joplin's (he was also a talented lyricist), and the group created an automatic buzz in L.A., eventually leading to a record deal with Capitol Records. Although the band would tour as part of an MTV 120 Minutes package tour (alongside Live, Public Image Limited, and Big Audio Dynamite) in early '92, their debut album wouldn't be issued until later in the year. Hoon also guested as a backing vocalist on Guns N' Roses overblown Use Your Illusion set he was even included in the video for "Don't Cry."
After the release of their debut in '92, the quintet hit the road for nearly 2 years - opening for such varied acts as Lenny Kravitz, Soundgarden, Neil Young, Ozzy Osbourne, Guns N' Roses, and the Rolling Stones. After being on tour for nearly a year in '93, the album became a major hit (eventually selling 3 million copies in the U.S. alone) on the strength of their hit single/video "No Rain."
Despite their newfound success, rumors began circulating that Hoon was developing a drug problem - as evidenced by several arrests around this time. Hoon was in and out of a few drug rehabs prior to the release of their sophomore effort, 1995's Soup. His girlfriend also gave birth to a baby daughter on July 11th, which seemed to re-invigorate Hoon, as he told friends at the time that he hoped to get his life in order so he could be there for his daughter.
Despite it being a fine album (albeit much darker and challenging than the debut), Soup wasn't a big hit in the U.S. - in fact, it was panned by most critics. Nonetheless, Blind Melon began a tour in support of the album in September of '95. The members asked Hoon if he was in shape to tour so soon after his rehab stays, and he assured them that he was.
Unfortunately, this didn't prove to be the case - on the morning of October 21, 1995, Hoon was found dead on the band's tour bus in New Orleans, from a drug overdose. As expected, the band broke up, but not before issuing one last album as a tribute to Hoon 1 year later, Nico (named after his baby daughter, it was comprised of demos/outtakes), and a grammy-nominated homevideo, Letters from a Porcupine.
Hoon's death remains one of rock's great tragedies - it truly appeared as though he had plenty of great music still to create and explore.