The wild and often unpredictable life of Shannon Hoon took an unexpected turn on Feb 7, 1994 when the Blind Melon singer was arrested at the American Music Awards.
Hoon, then 26, had been enjoying his height of stardom. Blind Melon’s self-titled debut album had become a multi-platinum success, spurred by the hit single “No Rain.” The song’s music video was plastered all over MTV, while Hoon was embraced as one of the ‘90s singular voices.
The 21st annual American Music Awards should have been another career highlight. The event, held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, featured many of the era’s most popular acts, including Whitney Houston, Snoop Dogg and Aerosmith. Blind Melon was nominated fin two categories, Favorite Pop/Rock New Artist and Favorite Metal/Hard Rock New Artist, but Hoon lashed out when his band lost both awards to Stone Temple Pilots.
Why Was Shannon Hoon Arrested at the 1994 American Music Awards?
The singer, who was reportedly intoxicated, initially got into a physical altercation with a security guard. When police arrived, Hoon allegedly spat on the officers and tried to kick out the window of a police car. The rocker didn’t calm down at the police station, where he reportedly ripped a phone out of the wall. He was charged with battery, assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest, disturbing the peace and destroying telephone equipment.
This wasn’t the first time Hoon had run into trouble with the law. In 1993 he was arrested and charged with nudity and indecent exposure after stripping and urinating onstage during a performance in Vancouver.
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“I am hotheaded sometimes,” Hoon admitted during a conversation with the Orlando Sentinel weeks after his AMA arrest. “I’ve got a lot of bad elements inside of me… I’m trying to control them.”
Hoon entered a rehab facility in May 1994 and continued working on his sobriety for over a year. By 1995, it appeared the singer had straightened his life out, inspired largely by the birth of his baby daughter. Tragically, the singer’s demons soon proved overwhelming. Hoon died of a drug overdose while on tour that October at the age of 28.
