Keith Moon ('Moon the Loon') Keith Moon was born in London England on the 23rd August 1946.  He grew up in the Wembley area. Keith actually was a bugle player for the Sea Cadet Corps when he was 12 before switching to drums when he was 14.  He played in a few bands after that before joining The Who at 17.  He got the job with The Who after they had parted with their original drummer, in part, by walking up to them during a show and saying, "I hear you're looking for a drummer.  Well, I'm much better than the one you've got.".   The Who were, I believe, the first to destroy their equipment on stage at the end of a show.  This was a task Keith Moon took on with gusto and once during a TV Show put explosives in his drums and set them off at the end of their set, embedding a piece of cymbal in his arm in the process. Although known for his loud and dramatic style of drumming, he may have been known more for his off stage antics.  Keith Moon was infamous for blowing up toilets.  To accomplish this feat he is said to have used not only fire crackers but even dynamite on occasion.  His habit of blowing up toilets led him to be banned from several hotel chains, namely Holiday Inn, Sheraton and Hilton.  In 1967 he allegedly drove a Cadillac into the pool of a Holiday Inn in Flint Michigan.  In 1970 he accidentally, allegedly ran over and killed his friend and bodyguard, Neil Boland, with his Bentley.

On the 6th of September 1978, Keith Moon was Paul McCartney's guest at the film preview of 'The Buddy Holly Story'.  After going to dinner, Moon and girlfriend Annette Walter-Lax retired to the room they had loaned from Harry Nilsson.  Then Keith Moon allegedly took 32 tablets of Heminevrin (aka Clomethiazole).  This was a medication prescribed to Moon to alleviate the symptoms of Alcohol Withdrawal.  The next morning, September 7th, he was found dead by his girlfriend.  An overdose of Clomethiazole was the official cause of death.  Strangely enough, he had died in the same room Cass Elliott had died in a little over 4 years before.

Here is a picture of Keith Moon with Linda Blair and Linda Lovelace.