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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Drugs Thought To Have Caused Hoon’s Death

New York Times

A drug overdose was believed to have caused the death Saturday of Shannon Hoon, lead singer of the rock group Blind Melon.

Hoon died in the band’s bus in a New Orleans parking lot. He was 28 and lived in Lafayette, Ind.

Chris Jones, the band’s manager, said an accidental drug overdose was suspected. An autopsy was performed Sunday morning, but the results were incomplete.

Blind Melon achieved rapid success with its self-titled first album in 1992, which sold more than two million copies. The album mixed Woodstock-era music with the introspection of alternative rock.

Hoon’s high-pitched wailing and moaning soared above it all, garnering him comparisons to Janis Joplin. The video of a song from the album, “No Rain,” was so popular that its images of a cavorting girl dressed in a bee costume threatened to eclipse the band. Heather DeLoach, known as “the bee girl,” gave almost as many interviews as the band did in 1993.