The following is a list of notable people who have died from drug-related causes. Deaths caused by alcohol and caffeine are included. See also: Lists of people by cause of death.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A

• Nick Adams - actor
• Dave Alexander - of The Stooges
• Rick Allen - of Asylum
• G.G. Allin - punk musician, heroin
• West Arkeen - of Outpatience , and songwriter, heroin
• Howard Arkley - painter

Maj. Armstrong - radio pioneer, developed FM, superhet, defenestration

• Arlus - of the Blunt Stitches

B

• Deford Bailey - country musician
• Chet Baker - jazz trumpeter and singer
• Florence Ballard - of The Supremes, cardiac arrest strongly exacerbated by long-term drug abuse
• Honoré de Balzac - caffeine poisoning from drinking over forty cups of coffee a day
• Lester Bangs - musician, writer, overdose of painkillers, possibly accidental
• Jean-Michel Basquiat - painter
• Ludwig van Beethoven - classical musician, note: alcohol abuse led to the serious health problems that caused his death
• Bix Beiderbecke - jazz musician
• John Belushi - of the Blues Brothers, actor, and comedian - heroin and cocaine
• Bunny Berigan
• Sonny Berman - jazz musician
• Wes Berggren - of Tripping Daisy
• Len Bias - basketball star; died of cocaine overdose before ever playing in the NBA
• Dave Bidwell - of the Pink Fairies, Chicken Shack , Savoy Brown
• Matty Blag - of Blaggers I.T.A.
• Mike Bloomfield - blues guitarist, heroin
• Tommy Bolin - of Deep Purple
• John Bonham - of Led Zeppelin, inhalation of own vomit; believed to be alcohol-related
• James Booker - musician, heroin
• Erik Brodreskift - of Borknagar
• Herman Brood - musician
• Dennis Brown - musician
• Lenny Bruce - comedian, heroin, found dead with a needle in his arm
• Robert Buck - of 10,000 Maniacs
• Tim Buckley - rock and roll musician, heroin
• Lester Butler - harpist, of the Red Devils, heroin
• Paul Butterfield - American blues musician

C

• Toy Caldwell - of Marshall Tucker Band
• Alex Campbell - musician
• Skip Candelori - of Turning Point
• Herb Caro - saxophoneist, clarinetist, heroin
• Leroy Carr - blues musician
• Miss Christine - of the GTOs
• Michael Clarke - of the Byrds
• Steve Clarke - of Def Leppard
• Will Clay - of The Toys
• Montgomery Clift - actor
• Kurt Cobain - Nirvana singer and guitarist, heroin and gunshot wounds
• Brian Cole - of the Association
• Allen Collins - of Lynyrd Skynyrd
• Cowboy - of Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five
• Carl Crack - of Atari Teenage Riot
• Darby Crash - punk musician, of the Germs, heroin
• Todd Crew - of the Drunk Fux and Jetboy
• Robbin Crosby - of Ratt, contracted HIV as a result of long-time heroin addiction and died of AIDS

D

• Dalida - singer, barbiturates
• Dorothy Dandridge - actress, singer
• Jesse Ed Davis - guitarist, session musician, heroin
• Jeanine Deckers - the Singing Nun
• Sheik Sayid Darwish , Egyptian composer and father of Arab popular music, cocaine
• Rick Dey - of the Vejtables , February Sunshine , the Wilde Knights and the Merry-Go-Round
• DJ Screw - musician, codeine
• Tommy Dorsey - jazz musician and bandleader, choked to death while sleeping with the aid of drugs
• John Dougherty - of Flipper
• Nick Drake - musician
• Bobby Driscoll - actor

E

• Jeanne Eagels - actress
• John Entwistle - of the Who
• Rick Evers - drummer and songwriter

F

• Chris Farley - comedian
• Pete Farnden - of the Pretenders
• Rainer Werner Fassbinder - playwright, director
• W.C. Fields - American performer and actor
• Keith Ferguson - of the Fabulous Thunderbirds
• Zach Foley - of EMF and Carrie
• Tom Foote - of the Devices and the Loco Gringos

G

• Rory Gallagher - of Taste
• Jerry Garcia - of the Grateful Dead, cardiac arrest strongly exacerbated by longtime heroin abuse
• Paul Gardiner - of Gary Numan's Tubeway Army
• Judy Garland - American actress
• Duck Geottel - of Skinny Puppy, heroin
• Andy Gibb - singer, younger brother of the Bee Gees; cardiac damage strongly exacerbated by cocaine and alcohol abuse
• Candy Givens - of Zephyr
• Alexander Godunov - Actor, died of alcoholism at 45
• Dwayne Goettel - heroin
• Gribouille - French singer
• Stacy Guess - of the Squirrel Nut Zippers
• Danny Gatton - suicide

H

• Paul Hammond - of Atomic Rooster
• Bobby Hatfield - of the Righteous Brothers, heart attack triggered by cocaine overdose
• Tim Hardin - heroin
• Wynonie Harris - blues singer, alcohol poisoning
• George Harrison - of the Beatles, heavy tobacco user, died of lung cancer
• Alex Harvey - of The Sensational Alex Harvey Band , liver damage caused by alcohol abuse
• Eddie Hazel - guitarist, of the P-funk collective
• Helno - of Les Negresses Vertes
• Margaux Hemingway - actress
• Jimi Hendrix - rock and roll musician, respiratory arrest caused by barbiturate overdose
• Gregory Herbet - of Blood, Sweat & Tears
• Bob Hite - of Canned Heat
• Randy Jo Hobbs - musician
• El Duce Hoke - of the Mentors
• Michael Holiday - singer
• Billie Holiday - jazz singer
• Hollywood Fats - musician
• Gary Holton - of Heavy Metal Kids
• James Honeyman-Scott - of the Pretenders
• Shannon Hoon - of Blind Melon
• Tim Hovey - actor
• Baby Huey - singer
• Phyllis Hyman - singer

I

J

• Lorri Jackson - musician
• Tom Jans - musician
• Joëlle (1953-1982), American born French singer
• Brian Jones - of the Rolling Stones, drowned, very likely due to alcohol and barbiturate intoxication
• Rob Jones - of Wonder Stuff
• Janis Joplin - rock and roll and blues musician, heroin

K

• John Kahn - of the Jerry Garcia Band
• Jeff Kaplan - of Kaleidoscope
• Wells Kelly - of Orleans
• Beverly Kenney - singer
• Kenny Kirkland - noted pianist, heroin
• Hoi Klinskih - of Sector Gaza
• Paul Kossoff - of Free
• Lance Krantz - drummer of Detox
• Eddie Kurdziel - of Redd Kross

L

• Barbara La Marr - actress, drug-related death in Hollywood
• Peter Laughner - of Pere Ubu; acute pancreatitis
• Rudy Lewis - of the Drifters
• Bela Lugosi- actor
• Frankie Lymon - doo wop singer, heroin
• Phil Lynott - of Thin Lizzy

M

• Steve MacKay
• Billy MacKenzie - of the Associates
• Mike MacTavish - of the Lost Souls
• Steve Marriott - of The Small Faces and Humble Pie, drug related fire
• Big Maybelle
• Jad McAdam - of Lino
• David McComb - of Traffic
• David McComb (no relation) - of The Triffids
• Jimmy McCulloch - guitarist
• Pig Pen McKernan - of the Grateful Dead
• Robbie McIntosh - of the Average White Band, heroin
• Clyde McPhatter - singer
• Joe Meek - record producer
• Jonathan Melvoin - touring keyboardist for the Smashing Pumpkins, heroin
• Mighty Spoiler - calypso music singer
• Miss Christine - of the GTO's
• Amedeo Modigliani - painter, alcohol poisoning
• Marilyn Monroe - actress, singer
• Ken Montgomery - of D.O.A.
• Roy Montrell - session guitarist
• Keith Moon - of the Who
• Jim Morrison - of the Doors, heroin and alcohol (cause and fact of death disputed)
• Billy Murcia - of the New York Dolls
• Brent Mydland - keyboardist, of the Grateful Dead

N

• Papoose Nelson - blues musician
• Jerry Nolan - of The New York Dolls and The Heartbreakers
• Bradley Nowell - of Sublime, heroin

O

• Hugh O'Connor - actor, of In the Heat of the Night TV series
• Lani O'Grady - actress, of Eight Is Enough
• Frank O'Keefe - of the Outlaws
• Johnny O'Keefe - singer
• Brian O'Leary - actor
• Charlie Ondras - of Unsane
• Malcolm Owen - singer, lyricist of the Ruts

P

• Marco Pantani - cyclist, Tour de France winner; acute cocaine intoxication
• Charlie Parker - jazz musician
• Robert Pastorelli - American television actor
• Gram Parsons - country musician, of the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers
• Joe Pass - jazz musician
• Jon-Jon Paulos - of the Buckinghams
• Art Pepper - jazz musician
• Kristen Pfaff - of Hole, heroin
• Esther Phillips - singer
• John Phillips - musician, of the Mamas and the Papas
• River Phoenix - actor
• Jeffrey Lee Pierce - of the Gun Club
• Rob Pilatus - of Milli Vanilli
• Dana Plato - actress, of Diff'rent Strokes
• Elvis Presley - singer
• Freddie Prinze - comic, actor (Chico and the Man), self-inflicted gunshot wound while under the influence of Quaaludes

Q

• Karen Ann Quinlan put into an extreme vegetative state by tranquilizers and alcohol died, 1985,
• Glenn Quinn - actor (Roseanne, Angel)
• Robert Quine - punk rock guitarist

R

• Dee Dee Ramone - of the Ramones
• Alex Ramsdell - jaz pianist
• Johnny Ray - musician
• Wallace Reid - actor
• Elis Regina - singer
• Rob Graves Ritter - of Thelonius Monster , Gun Club, the Bags , 45 Grave
• Peter Rosen - War
• Michael Rudetski - keyboardist, Culture Club
• David Ruffin - of the Temptations

S

• Stefanie Sargent - of 7 Year Bitch
• Bon Scott - of AC/DC, inhalation of own vomit
• George Scott III - bass guitarist
• Phil Seaman - singer
• Jean Seberg - actress
• Edie Sedgewick - actress
• Will Shatter - of Flipper, heroin
• Eddy Shaver - of Shaver
• Bobby Sheehan - of Blues Traveler
• Judee Sill - musician
• Hillel Slovak - of Red Hot Chili Peppers, heroin
• Richard Sohl - of The Patti Smith Group
• Epic Soundtracks - of Swell Maps
• Layne Staley - of Alice in Chains
• Willian Stewart - doo wop singer, of Johnny Bragg & the Prisonaires
• Bob Stinson - of the Replacements
• Neil Storey - of the Dragon
• Rory Storm - musician
• Screaming Lord Sutch - singer, Prozac

T

• Dallas Taylor - of the Danderliers
• Vinnie Taylor - of Sha Na Na , heroin
• Gary Thain - of Uriah Heep
• Johnny Thunders - of the New York Dolls, alcohol and methadone
• Dylan Thomas - poet, "an alcoholic insult to the brain."
• Georg Trakl - playwright
• Steven James Turner - of Clock DVA
• Dick Twardzick - pianist

U

V

• Townes Van Zandt - musician
• Lupe Vélez, actress
• Sid Vicious - of the Sex Pistols, heroin
• Gene Vincent - rock and roll musician, liver damage caused by alcohol

W

• Dave Waller - musician
• Dinah Washington - singer
• Freddie Webster - jazz trumpeter
• Brett Whiteley - painter
• Keith Whitley - country musician, alcohol poisoning
• Danny Whitten - of Crazy Horse, heroin
• Hank Williams - country musician, overdose of painkillers, born with painful back deformation
• Alan Wilson - of Canned Heat
• Dennis Wilson - of the Beach Boys, exact cause of death unknown, alcohol-related drowning is a strong possibility
• Andrew Wood - of Mother Love Bone

X

Y

Z

See also

• List of celebrities with illicit drug history
• Deaths by accidental drug overdose
• Lists of people by cause of death