The Biggest Stars Who Died of Overdose
Overdoses Among Celebrities
Addiction doesn’t care if you’re famous or not. At the same time, the subject of celebrities who died of alcohol poisoning, heroin overdose, mixed drug toxicity, or other drug overdoses sometimes seems ubiquitous in widespread media coverage. Celebrity itself can’t be blamed entirely for people in the entertainment industry suffering from drug and alcohol addictions or drug-related deaths. A combination of risk factors—the most important being a family history of drug abuse— increases the probability of developing a drug or alcohol disorder.
Many unfortunate celebrity deaths have involved multiple drugs or accidental drug overdoses since the beginning of the entertainment industry. Seymour Hoffman, Heath Ledger, Mac Miller, and Amy Winehouse died from drug abuse. Keep reading to learn about a few celebrities whose deaths you might not have known were drug and alcohol-related overdose deaths.
5 Shocking Celebrity Overdose Deaths
Michael Jackson
In 2009, American singer, music producer, and actor Michael Jackson prepared for a series of comeback concerts. Unfortunately, he died of acute propofol and benzodiazepine drug toxicity at his home. The coroner for LA County found that his overdose was a homicide, being given a few different opioid drugs by his doctor, Conrad Murray. Jackson’s passing shocked the world and sparked a renewed interest in his artistic works.
Learn more about Michael Jackson’s overdose death in our blog below:
Juice WRLD
Juice WRLD (born Jarad Anthony Higgins) began in 2015 as an independent artist, releasing his music on the internet, and saw mainstream attention, giving him leading status in the emo rap genre. In 2019, he flew from LA to Chicago on a private jet. When the flight landed, police officers searched the plane for guns and drugs, having been notified of their possibility by federal agents while the flight was en route. Juice WRLD allegedly swallowed multiple pills to hide them from the police, began convulsing and seizing, and later died at a medical center of opioid overdose. Juice WRLD’s music and posthumous albums continue to resonate with people for his explorations over struggling with and overcoming personal struggles like depression or anxiety.
Cory Monteith
Cory Monteith was a Canadian actor and musician well-known for playing Finn Hudson on the Fox TV series Glee. During his success on the show, he acted in films like Monte Carlo and Sisters & Brothers. Monteith had a troubled adolescence involving substance abuse from age 13, later leaving school at 16. At 19, he entered drug rehab after an intervention staged by family and friends. In a 2011 interview with Parade magazine, he discussed his history of substance abuse as a teen. Two years later, he again sought treatment for addiction. On July 13, 2013, he died of a toxic combination of heroin and alcohol in a Vancouver hotel room.
Brittany Murphy
Famous for roles in movies like Legally Blonde, Uptown Girls, and 8 Mile, and TV shows like Boy Meets World and King of the Hill, Brittany Murphy was well-loved for her comedic timing and depth of character portrayal. On December 20, 2009, Murphy died under disputed circumstances at the age of 32. The coroner’s verdict was pneumonia, exacerbated by anemia and misuse of various prescription medicines. In January 2010, Murphy’s mother, Sharon, and her widower, Simon Monjack, established the Brittany Murphy Foundation, a charitable fund for children’s arts education, supporting the USO and cancer research.
Edgar Allan Poe
Widely regarded as a central figure in American literature, Edgar Allan Poe was a writer, poet, editor, and literary critic and one of the earliest practitioners of the short story. Poe is credited with inventing detective fiction and contributing to early American science fiction. Poe struggled with alcohol abuse throughout his adulthood, though the exact details surrounding his death are still a mystery. He was found wandering the streets of Baltimore in October 1849, delirious and in great distress. Papers at the time reported his death as “congestion of the brain” or “cerebral inflammation,” common euphemisms for death from disreputable causes like alcohol overdose. Modern speculation expands the possible causes of heart disease, sexually transmitted diseases, and electoral fraud. His works are still popular today.
Other famous people who died of an accidental overdose include Judy Garland, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, and Whitney Houston. From Chris Farley to Marilyn Monroe, fatal overdoses and drug intoxication claim many of the lives of celebrities who have died.
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