Simon Rushworth
It’s not often that rock legends Jimi Hendrix, Bon Scott and John Bonham are mentioned in the same tabloid newspaper.
Less so all on the same page.
But before anyone gets too excited, three of the biggest and most missed names in music weren’t being celebrated, revered or lauded.
They were simply used to illustrate the pitfalls of leading life to the full – the epitome of the fabled sex, drugs and rock and rollercoaster.
And there’s not much wrong with that of course. All three knew what they were doing, where they were heading and what the ultimate cost could be.
And all three were hardened souls who made a deal with the devil and stuck to their side of the bargain.
They were the real deal. On and off the stage. And while nobody can condone their lifestyles or celebrate the nature of their deaths it’s pretty clear that this trio of talented rockers lived and died the rock and roll dream.
Unlike Stephen Gately, the boy band member who tragically passed away at the age of 33 last weekend.
And yet The Sun chose to draw a bizarre parallel between an ultimately clean living and quiet Irishman and three of the most addictive and destructive personalities known to rock.
Gately may have died immediately after a stretch of partying long into the night but it is well known he was never a heavy drinker.
He had no history of turning to the bottle or taking drugs and was a happily married man with a reputation for keeping his nose clean.
Sure, it seems he’d had a few in the hours leading up to his death. But a post mortem showed he passed away as a result of natural causes.
Gately’s death came as a massive shock to all who knew and loved him. Not so shocking were the tragic losses of Hendrix, Scott and Bonham – all three ticking timebombs just an extra shot away from fatal implosion.
So just why The Sun thought anything about Gately’s life or death was remotely similar to that of the three late rock legends they shoehorned into the same double page spread is anyone’s guess.
It’s always nice to read the names Hendrix, Scott and Bonham in the same sentence as all three evoke memories of rock’s golden age.
But it’s absolutely ridiculous to name drop any of the three the day after a member of Boyzone dies after a rare night out with his partner.