If Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen hadn’t severed his arm in a car accident New Year’s Eve 1984, would the band have come back as one of the biggest of the Hair Metal Era?
If Metallica bassist Cliff Burton hadn’t been killed when he was thrown from their tour bus in an accident summer of 1987, would Metallica have come back with their breakthrough album …And Justice For All?
If Echo & the Bunnymen drummer Pete de Freitas hadn’t been killed in a 1989 motorcycle accident, could the band have avoided fading into 80′s obscurity?
How has the auto industry shaped rock ‘n’ roll history?
December 31, 1984, Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen was on his way to a New Year’s Eve party at his family’s home in Sheffield, England. 21-year-old Allen was driving his Corvette when an Alfa Romeo passed him. The driver had been egging Allen on and would not allow him to pass. In his rage to pass this driver, he did not see a turn up ahead and lost control of his car, which sailed over a stone wall and into a field. He was thrown from the car, with his left arm severed due to the seatbelt not being properly fastened. Allen’s career was drastically changed. He traded in his acoustic drum kit for an electronic kit that would assist his drumming. The result transformed Def Leppard’s sound, and sent them on another course in arena rock stardom.
September 26, 1986, during the European leg of the Damage Inc. tour in support of Master of Puppets, Metallica’s tour bus hit a patch of ice, skidded off of the road and flipped onto the grass. Bassist Cliff Burton was thrown through the window of the bus, which fell on top of him crushing him to death. The band returned to the U.S. to record and release …And Justice For All, their breakthrough album that sent them into metal-god infamy.
November of 2008 Deftones bassist Chi Cheng was involved in an automobile accident in Santa Clara, CA that put him in a coma. He is still in recovery to this day. In light of the accident, the band scrapped the album on which they had been working to write a more positive album. Rock ‘n’ roll history has yet to be written for the Deftones’ newly influenced sound.
Suffice it to say, the auto industry has left it’s mark on rock ‘n’ roll. Take a look at “The World Almanac and Book of Facts” rundown of premature deaths of celebrity musicians and judge for yourself.