Keith Moon 1968

Keith Moon 1968, hand-drawn recording the rock opera “Tommy” at IBC Studios, London, in 1968, age 22.

Keith John Moon was an English drummer for the rock band the Who. He was noted for his unique style of playing and his eccentric, often self-destructive behaviour.

As a teen he took up the drums and after playing with a local band, the Beachcombers, he joined the Who in 1964 before they recorded their first single.
Moon was recognized for his drumming style, which emphasised tom-toms, cymbal crashes, and drum fills.

He has been credited as one of the earliest rock drummers to regularly employ double bass kick drums in his setup.

Moon developed a reputation for smashing his kit on stage and destroying hotel rooms (starting at the Berlin Hilton in 1966) on tour.
It was estimated that his destruction of hotel rooms, toilets and plumbing cost as much as $500,000.

Moon enjoyed touring and socializing, and became bored and restless when the Who were inactive.
His 21st birthday party in Flint, Michigan, has been cited as a notorious example of decadent behaviour by rock groups.

By the 1970s, he became addicted to alcohol, particularly brandy and champagne, and acquired a reputation for decadence and dark humor.

By the time of the Who’s final tour with him in 1976, and particularly during production of The Kids Are Alright and Who Are You, the drummer’s deterioration was evident.

In mid-1978, Moon moved into Flat 12, 9 Curzon Place, Shepherd Market, Mayfair, London, renting from Harry Nilsson.
Cass Elliot of the Mamas and the Papas had died in this same apartment four years earlier, at the age of 32.

He wanted to get sober and was prescribed 100 tablets of Heminevrin (clomethiazole, a sedative) to alleviate his alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
He was to take one pill when he felt a craving for alcohol but not more than three pills per day.

On the evening of September 6, 1978, after partying with Paul and Linda McCartney, he went home and took some clomethiazole tablets.
The next morning (September 7) he was found dead in his apartment. Police determined that there were 32 clomethiazole pills in Moon’s system.
Six were digested, sufficient to cause his death; the other 26 were undigested when he died.

He was 32.

Moon was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 as a member of the Who.

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