From the rocker killed on stage to the R&B star who tripped and never got up again, the untimely ends met by these '90s musicians prove one thing — that death sometimes arrives in the most unexpected of ways.
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00:00From the rocker killed on stage to the R&B star who tripped and never got up again, the
00:05untimely ends met by these 90s musicians prove one thing — that death sometimes arrives
00:09in the most unexpected of ways.
00:12Jeff Buckley is one of those once-in-a-generation musicians who left us way too soon. After
00:17making a name for himself in the Big Apples club and cafe scenes in the early 90s, Buckley
00:21released his first and only album, Grace, in 1994. The record features several gems,
00:26including his hauntingly gorgeous and intimate rendition of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, a
00:31song that Rolling Stone included on its 2004 list of the greatest songs of all time.
00:35Grace proved that Buckley was on his way to becoming a music staple of the decade and
00:38beyond. But then, on May 29, 1997, Buckley took an impromptu dip in the Mississippi River
00:44while waiting for his band to land in Memphis. He was swept up and drowned in the wake of
00:48a passing boat. His body was found six days later in the water near Beale Street.
00:52The singer's death was ruled a tragic accident, leaving countless generations of music fans
00:57wondering what might have been.
00:58I don't… I don't really need to be remembered. I hope the music's remembered.
01:04The 90s were the golden age of R&B, and at the time, one girl group ruled them all. TLC
01:10combined R&B, hip-hop, soul, and pop to achieve massive crossover success with their game-changing
01:15albums Crazy Sexy Cool and Fan Mail. The group was made up of Tian T-Boz Watkins, Rosanda
01:20Chili Thomas, and Lisa Left Eye Lopez.
01:23Lopez is primarily known for rapping on TLC's music, such as the iconic verse at the end
01:27of their smash hit, Waterfalls. The trio went through a lot during their time as a group,
01:31and tension soon began to grow among them. In 2002, Lopez embarked on a spiritual retreat
01:36to Honduras. She was also filming a documentary about the country at the time.
01:40You get to see it from my point of view.
01:44On April 25 that year, Lopez was driving when she lost control of the vehicle and crashed.
01:48All of the passengers survived, but Lopez died from her injuries. She was just 30 years
01:53old.
01:54One particularly noteworthy aspect of her death is the fact that the moments leading
01:57up to it were all caught on camera, as the producer for the documentary was riding in
02:01the car with the cameras rolling. Some of that footage was used at the end of the 2007
02:06documentary Last Days of Left Eye.
02:08Aaliyah was the it girl of the 90s R&B and hip-hop scenes. She scored a record deal at
02:12the tender age of 12, and at 15, released the game-changing 1994 album Age Ain't Nothin'
02:18But a Number. She scored hit after hit in the mid-to-late 90s, including the Grammy-nominated
02:22song, Are You That Somebody?, and the crossover hit One in a Million. Ever the talented artist,
02:27she also made her way to the silver screen, playing Trish O'Day in the action-packed movie
02:31Romeo Must Die opposite Jet Li, as well as the unforgiving Queen of the Undead in the
02:35sultry vampire fantasy horror flick Queen of the Damned.
02:38By August 2001, Aaliyah had cemented herself as a staple in both the R&B world and Hollywood.
02:43That month, she headed to the Bahamas to film the music video for Rock the Boat. Boarding
02:47a plane to return home on August 25th. In a bizarre and devastating turn of events,
02:52the overloaded plane crashed shortly after takeoff, killing Aaliyah and eight other people.
02:56She's a beautiful person inside and out, and we're gonna all miss her. Deeply."
03:03Aaliyah was only 22 at the time of her death.
03:06The 90s was the dominion of heavy metal, and Pantera reigned supreme in the decade's heavy
03:11metal scene, with the album Cowboys from Hell skyrocketing them to stardom in 1990. A key
03:16part of their sound came from guitarist Dimebag Darrell Abbott, whose heavy riffs and seamless
03:20weaving of rhythmic and melodic elements made him one of the best metal guitarists in a
03:24generation, if not the best. Abbott helped define Pantera's sound and influenced countless
03:28other rockers, including Ozzy Osbourne's guitarist Zach Wilde and Metallica's James Hetfield.
03:33He was also beloved and respected by fans and peers, and his senseless death was a huge
03:37gut punch to the rock world.
03:39On December 8th, 2004, Abbott was playing a show at a nightclub in Columbus, Ohio with
03:44Damage Playing, his post-Pantera band. During the show, he was shot and killed by a member
03:49of the audience. Three others also died in the attack. The killer was a man named Nathan
03:53Gale, a former Marine who was shot and killed by a police officer following his rampage.
03:57He just went crazy and started shooting people.
03:59While we'll never know exactly what drove Gale to kill that night, his mother and friends
04:04reported that he had mental health issues and was obsessed with Pantera, even believing
04:08that the band ripped off lyrics he himself had written.
04:12Commonly known as Selena, Selena Quintanilla Perez was a Mexican-American singer who rose
04:16to fame in the 90s, having fronted her family's band since childhood. Dubbed the Queen of
04:21Tejano, Selena was a Latin music powerhouse who blended its traditional sound with modern
04:25pop to create a sound all her own. Charismatic, talented, and passionate about her craft,
04:30she helped bring Tejano music into the mainstream, and she was truly adored by her fans.
04:34By March 1995, Selena was in the prime of her career. She earned a slew of Billboard
04:39Latin Music Awards, snagged a Grammy for Best Mexican-American Album for a 1993 album, Live!,
04:44and released her smash hit fourth studio album, Amor Prohibido, in 1994. Her red-hot career
04:50was destined to become hotter, until she was bizarrely gunned down by someone she had once
04:54trusted.
04:55Yolanda Saldívar was the president of Selena's fan club and eventually managed one of the
04:59singer's boutiques in San Antonio. Things went sour when Selena and her family accused
05:03Saldívar of embezzling money from both the store and the fan club. Selena agreed to meet
05:07Saldívar at a day's inn in Corpus Christi, Texas, on March 31, 1995, to retrieve financial
05:13documents that Saldívar still had in her possession. During their confrontation, Saldívar
05:16shot Selena in the back of the shoulder, damaging an artery. Selena ran to the lobby for help
05:21and identified Saldívar as the shooter before falling to the ground. She later died from
05:25her injuries.
05:26She made it clear to us that was her best friend, that was her eyes, that was her ears.
05:30When she couldn't be there, we were to contact Yolanda.
05:35Saldívar was convicted of Selena's murder and sentenced to life in prison. She will
05:38be eligible for parole in March 2025.
05:42Buckle up, kids. This is one of the biggest unsolved mysteries in the world of classic
05:46rock.
05:47Richie Edwards was a lyricist and rhythm guitarist of the Manic Street Preachers, a raw and rebellious
05:51post-rock band from Wales. Edwards was brilliant and deeply complicated, often struggling with
05:57his mental health, alcohol abuse, and self-harm. On February 1, 1995, Edwards left his hotel
06:02in London and vanished off the face of the planet. His family declared him legally dead
06:07in 2008, and the truth behind his disappearance remains a mystery to this day.
06:11That said, a few theories have emerged in the nearly 30 years since his disappearance.
06:15Some people think he died by suicide, given the status of his mental health and the fact
06:19that his abandoned car was found near a bridge where people had previously taken their lives.
06:24Others believe he disappeared of his own accord, with people reportedly spotting him in different
06:27locations well after 1995.
06:30Edwards' sister Rachel told GQ in 2020 that she's still looking for answers in her brother's
06:35disappearance.
06:37Megadeth was one of the core thrash metal bands of the 80s and 90s. Founded by ex-Metallica
06:41guitarist Dave Mustaine, the group combined their aggressive yet melodic sound with pointed
06:46social and political lyrics to create some head-turning and head-banging music.
06:50Nick Menza laid down the incredible drumming on some of Megadeth's biggest albums, including
06:541990's Rust in Peace and 1992's Countdown to Extinction. Menza's dynamic, precise, and
07:00groovy style set him apart in the 90s metal scene, and he continued to rock with Megadeth
07:04until 1998, when he left the band to have knee surgery. Ever the dedicated musician,
07:08Menza continued to play music — until he literally dropped dead on stage.
07:12I'm not gonna lie about Nick Menza today, hearing the news. It's pretty rough.
07:17On May 21, 2016, Menza died while performing in Los Angeles with Ohm, his band with former
07:23Megadeth guitarist Chris Polan. He was 51 years old.
07:27Heavy metal was all the rage in the early to mid-90s, but by the end of the decade,
07:31new metal was sweeping the globe. One of the core bands of that era was Deftones, a new
07:36metal alternative group whose heavy metal roots and experimental vibe made their sound
07:40unlike any other. Hits like Be Quiet and Drive Far Away and Change in the House of Flies
07:45made them staples in the late 90s and 2000s rock music scene, and Chi Chang, who played
07:49bass, helped define the band's rhythm and groove. Chang was with Deftones until a terrible
07:54car crash ended his life in 2008. In November that year, Chang's sister was driving them
07:58both in Santa Clara, California, when they crashed into another car. Chang was thrown
08:03from the vehicle after it rolled several times and sustained serious injuries that left him
08:07in a coma for several months. In 2009, he entered a semi-conscious state, and over the
08:11next few years started to show signs of improvement, but he was still unable to move or speak.
08:17Chang's friends, family, and fans hoped the bassist would pull through and continue to
08:20improve, but his health took a turn for the worse in April 2013. At a hospital in Sacramento,
08:26he suffered a cardiac arrest and died aged 42.
08:30In the late 90s and early 2000s, pop alt-rock band Train made a name for themselves with
08:35their catchy hooks and feel-good melodies. They hit the scene with the 1998 single Meet
08:39Virginia, but their legacy as pop rock greats was cemented when 2001's Grammy-nominated
08:44Drops of Jupiter hit the airwaves. The single shot up to No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100
08:50One of the musicians responsible for those early mainstream hits was founding member
08:53and bassist Charlie Collin. Collin was with the group from 1994 until 2003, when he left
08:58the band due to issues with substance abuse. He stayed busy in the music scene after his
09:02train days, however, often playing with a number of other groups. By the spring of 2024,
09:08Collin was teaching music as well as making it.
09:10All of my worst moments are nuggets of pure gold as a teacher."
09:17That May, however, Collin was watching his friend's house in Brussels when he slipped
09:20and fell in the shower. He died as a result. He was 58. Train posted a touching tribute
09:25to Collin on Instagram, gushing about his sweet nature and talent on the bass.
09:30A soulful trio signed to Michael Jackson's record label, Brownstone was thick in the
09:35R&B boom. The group, consisting of Monica Dobie, Nicole Gilbert, and Charmaine Maxwell,
09:40scored a huge hit with 1994's If You Love Me. The tune hit the top ten on the Billboard
09:44Hot 100 chart and earned the group a Grammy nomination. Not bad for a single from their
09:49debut album, right?
09:50Maxwell's powerful vocals amplified the trio's soulful sound until the late 90s. More than
09:5515 years later, however, a bizarre freak accident unexpectedly took her life. Maxwell died on
10:00February 28, 2015, after falling and cutting her throat on a broken drinking glass. She
10:06was just 46 at the time of her death.
10:09Troy Gentry was half of the country crooning act Montgomery Gentry, a duo who rose to fame
10:13in the late 90s and aughts with their outlaw twang and steadfast Southern rock roots. Gentry
10:18and his cowboy pal Eddie Montgomery scored big with chart-topping songs such as If You
10:22Ever Stop Loving Me and Roll With Me, soon becoming one of the most successful two-piece
10:26country acts around. But their success came to an end after one fateful flight.
10:31On September 8, 2017, Gentry was on a helicopter tour of Metport, New Jersey, right before
10:36Montgomery Gentry was set to play at a nearby airport. Tragically, the helicopter crashed
10:41in the woods next to the airport, killing both Gentry and the pilot. Gentry was 50 years
10:46old. A report from the National Transportation Safety Board cited pilot error as the source
10:50of the fatal crash, stating that the pilot cut the engine too soon as he tried an emergency
10:55landing.
10:56For more stories, visit nyseagrant.org