A Soundtrack for my Life

Blind Melon was one of the foundation sounds of the alternative rock sound from between 1992 and 1995 with the death of its founding member and lead vocalist, Shannon Hoon.

Shannon Hoon was born on September 26, 1967 in Lafayette, Indiana. In high school he was a standout athlete in football, wrestling, and track, although he also developed a reputation for misbehavior and was arrested several times. At this time his interest in music began to develop. In February 1988, Hoon officially embarked upon his musical career fronting a band called Styff Kytten, a cover band based in Lafayette. In a feature story about the band in a local newspaper called the Journal and Courier, the band’s manager was quoted as saying, “Shannon’s got that desire. He’s got the persona of a frontman. You never want to take your eyes off him because you never know what he’s gonna do.”

After more run-ins with the police and inspired by the course of fellow Lafayette native Axl Rose of Guns N’ Roses, Hoon left his hometown behind for Los Angeles in 1989. There he quickly formed a group with three other musicians, all of whom had migrated to L.A. from other parts of the country. Together, after a series of name changes, the four men became known as Blind Melon.

The band began to gain traction due to Hoon’s association with Axl Rose — Hoon did backup vocals on several Guns N’ Roses tracks, most notably “Don’t Cry”.

Fame was not good to Shannon, he got deeper involved in drugs and was in and out of rehab. It is effecting his music and performances. Upon the release of their album, Soup, the record company was putting a lot of pressure on the band to go out on tour. Hannon was in rehab at the time, and the record company paid to have Hannon released from rehab on the condition that a full-time counselor would tour with the band to keep him in recovery. A month into the tour, the counselor was fired.

From then on it went from bad to worse.

In late September, 1995, Shannon Hoon stands before the crowd that has gathered in the Egyptian Room at the Murat Temple in Indianapolis, IN. The Blind Melon frontman holds his 6-week-old daughter, Nico Blue, in his arms.

“Tonight’s my daughter’s first rock ‘n’ roll event,” Hoon announces to his fans.

Less than a month later, on October 11, 1995, Hoon is found dead on his band’s tour bus before a show in New Orleans. A long struggle with drug addiction has culminated in an accidental overdose. His daughter, just over 3 months old, will be left to know her father solely through his music.

No Rain

All I can say is that my life is pretty plain
I like watchin’ the puddles gather rain

And all I can do is just pour some tea for two
and speak my point of view
But it’s not sane, It’s not sane

I just want someone to say to me oh, oh, oh, oh
I’ll always be there when you wake yea, yea
Ya know I’d like to keep my cheeks dry today, hey
So stay with me and I’ll have it made

And I don’t understand why I sleep all day
And I start to complain that there’s no rain

And all I can do is read a book to stay awake
And it rips my life away, but it’s a great escape
escape……escape……escape……

All I can say is that my life is pretty plain
ya don’t like my point of view
ya think I’m insane
Its not sane……it’s not sane.

I just want someone to say to me oh, oh, oh, oh
I’ll always be there when you wake yea, yea
Ya know I’d like to keep my cheeks dry today, hey
So stay with me and I’ll have it made

(I’ll have it made
I’ll have it made
You know we’re really gonna, really gonna have it made
Gonna have it made
ahhh,ahhh, ahhh, ahhh)

Shannon Hoon’s gravestone is inscribed with the following words from the first song he wrote, 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”

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