Shannon Hoon

Musician, Songwriter. Born Richard Shannon Hoon in Lafayette, Indiana, the son of Richard and Nel Hoon. He attended McCutcheon High School in Lafayette where he was a noted athlete in football, wrestling, and track and graduated in 1986. In February 1988, Hoon won a position fronting a local band called Styff Kytten. After a year, Hoon left for Los Angeles, California where he and four other musicians (Brad Smith, Christopher Thorn, Glen Graham & Rogers Stevens) formed a band in 1990, calling themselves Blind Melon. In 1991, Blind Melon produced a four-song demo and signed a recording contract with Capitol Records. Blind Melon deliberately differentiated themselves from the grunge, alternative and industrial rock that was then popular, modeling their style after classic rock bands of the seventies. An EP on Capitol Records called 'The Sippin' Time Sessions' was released in 1991. Axl Rose of Guns N' Roses (GNR), a fellow Lafayette native and friend of Hoon's sister Anna, then invited Hoon to sing back-up vocals on several tracks on his band's 'Use Your Illusion II' (1991) LP. In 1992, Blind Melon released the band's self-titled debut LP produced by Rick Parashar . Over the course of a support tour through 1992 and 1993, the members of Blind Melon, and Hoon in particular, began a pattern of drug abuse. Blind Melon were forced to take a breaks from their tour schedule to accommodate Hoon, who entered a detox program and occasionally jail on charges ranging from indecent exposure to assault and drunk and disorderly. In 1993, the single 'No Rain' was released, making Blind Melon instantly famous; supported by a video, the song became wildly popular and was the main force behind the album 'Blind Melon' going multi-platinum. In late 1994, Hoon's substance abuse problems returned after the band returned to the studio to record their second LP. After completing their album in spring 1995, the band forced Hoon to check himself into another rehabilitation program. The new album, 'Soup', was released in the summer of 1995. A support tour for the album began under the condition that a drug counselor accompany Hoon on tour. Hoon, however, was ungovernable and fell back into a pattern of drug abuse almost immediately. Hoon's performances were spiraling downward, and he appeared obviously impaired on stage several times. Just before a scheduled show in New Orleans, roadies went to wake Hoon up for a sound check, but he was unresponsive. EMTs pronounced Hoon dead on the scene. Hoon was buried in under an epitaph drawn from the lyrics of his first song, 'Change:' "I know we can't all stay here forever, so I want to write my words on the face of today. And they'll paint it." In 1996, the surviving members of Blind Melon compiled and released an album, 'Nico,' in Hoon's honor and for the benefit of his daughter, Nico Blue.