The Sad History of Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicides

Many know despair – some better than others. Most deal with it and move along as best they can. Others, as the above gallery detailing the Sad History of Rock 'n' Roll Suicides illustrates, are brought down to the point where they see no other way out.

Some, like Kurt Cobain, were at the top of their respective games. Nirvana's 1991 album Nevermind changed the course of rock history almost overnight, but Cobain's impact and influence didn't help him shake his demons.

Others, like Joy Division's Ian Curtis, were on the cusp of greatness. Joy Division broke from the constraints of the initial punk rush, taking the music's spirit and transforming it into something new. They'd influence a long parade of bands. Curtis killed himself, however, before Joy Division could release an already-completed second album.

Some seemed to foretell their shocking end. "I'm not going to save up for my old age, because I'm not going to have an old age," Darby Crash, one of the most notorious figures in the late-'70s L.A. punk scene, once famously said. "If we run out of money, I can always kill myself." Others, like Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell, seemed to make this fateful decision without any warning signs at all.

David Bowie's classic song "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" faced this choice head on, culminating with the life-affirming refrain of "Oh no, love! You're not alone." Still, some people can't get past the issues that led them down that path in the first place. Click through as we remember the Sad History of Rock 'n' Roll Suicides.