32 Rockers Who Defied Death

Rock stars are known for living life on the edge, so it should come as no surprise that many of them have endured some pretty serious near-death experiences.

There’s a reason “sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll” remains the ultimate rock cliche. Many successful artists have embraced all three at the height of their careers, with drugs (unsurprisingly) proving to be the most dangerous. While we avoided putting every almost-fatal overdose in rock history on our list, there are still plenty of those stories: including close calls for Nikki Sixx, Slash and Depeche Mode’s Dave Gahan.

In the case of Stevie Nicks, treatment after years of narcotics almost led the Fleetwood Mac singer to her demise. Meanwhile, Alice Cooper and Keith Richards almost met their maker due to mishaps onstage.

Brain May, Lou Gramm and Geezer Butler successfully battled back from some scary - and unexpected - health conditions. And Ozzy Osbourne probably shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near an ATV ever again.

Gene Simmons played the role of hero for Ace Frehley, saving his Kiss bandmate from drowning on two separate occasions. In other instances, a rocker’s hobby brought them dangerously close to death, like Brian Johnson’s love of race-car driving or Dave Grohl’s surfing.

We’ve rounded up our collection of Rockers Who Defied Death in the list below. Whatever the circumstances surrounding their story, we’re lucky they survived. The last thing we need is more talented artists who are gone too soon.