Shannon Hoon

American singer-songwriter and musician Shannon Hoon was born in Lafayette, Indiana and is best known for being the lead singer of the band Blind Melon from 1990 to his death in 1995. Hoon was part of the first formation of the band, signing a record deal with Capitol Records after their first demo tape. The musician is also known for having sang backing vocals on several tracks of the albums "Use Your Illusion I" and "Use Your Illusion II" (1991) for Guns N' Roses. The next year the band would go on tour to promote their own multi-platinum debut album, "Blind Melon" (1992), opening shows for giants such as Ozzy Osbourne and Soundgarden. After playing at Woodstock '94, the band returned to the studio to record their second album, "Soup" (1995), but the singer passed before they could properly play it on tour, at age 28 from a cocaine overdose. After his passing, Hoon was still featured on Blind Melon's third album "Nico" (1996) as a tribute, with all proceeds going to his daughter and to programs helping musicians deal with substance abuse. He also appeared in the documentary "All I Can Say" (2019) about his life, being credited as a director of the film.