Rock stars appear to have a peculiar attraction to guns. Whether it’s because they’re so paranoid about the attention of their fans, feel that they’re king dick and need to have a gun to remind everyone of it, or just so insecure that a gun makes it all better; it sure makes for plenty of entertainment for us fans! Alas, they’re also fond of using them to blow not only their own brains out, but those of others.
10. James Brown
Papa didn’t only have a brand new bag when he was busted on marijuana possession charges in 1998, he also had a gun that police decided warranted charges of ‘unlawful use of a firearm’.
9. The Clash
In 1978 drummer Topper Headon and bassist Paul Simonon were arrested for shooting pigeons off the roof of their Camden Town rehearsal studio with an air rifle. They were arrested and briefly banged up in Brixton Prison.
8. Ted Nugent
Ted Nugent is arguably America’s greatest exponent of guns and serves on the board of the National Rifle Association in the States. In defending the rights of Americans to carry guns, he has said that the “second amendment is the only gun license or carry permit any law abiding citizen should need.”
7. 50 Cent
50 Cent has been shot 9 times. ‘Nuff said.
6. Adam Ant
Adam Ant was arrested on weapons charges in 2002 after a scuffle in a London pub where he was found to be carrying a weapon.
5. Tupac Shakur
2Pac was gunned down in a drive by shooting in Las Vegas in 1996.
4. Keith Richards
The Rolling Stone pulled a gun on a motorist in an adjacent car during an incident which occurred while they were recording Exile On Main Street in 1971. Luckily for him the charges were mysteriously dropped.
3. John McVie – Fleetwood Mac
McVie was arrested on drug and weapons possession charges at his home on the Hawaiian Island of Maui in 1981. Charges were dropped after he passed a lie detector test…
2. Kurt Cobain
Cobain infamously decided he didn’t want to be the most influential musician in the world any more, deciding to check out by blowing his brains out in his Seattle home in April 1994.
1. Phil Spector
Already with a reputation for terrorizing the likes of The Ramones in the studio by waving pistols at them during recording sessions in 1980, as well as threatening wife Ronnie of The Ronnettes by showing her a coffin and saying that would be the only way she’d ever leave him, Spector finally went too far in 2003. He was eventually found guilty of shooting B-Movie actress Lana Clarkson in his Alhambra, California mansion.
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