Shannon Hoon (Richard Shannon Hoon) Shannon Hoon was born in Lafayette, Indiana on September 26th 1967.  In Lafayette, Hoon became lead singer of the band 'Styff Kitten' and was a member of 'Mank Rage'.  However he left those bands and moved to Los Angeles in 1989 where he met musicians Brad Smith and Rogers Stevens at a party.  The three men eventually brought in Christopher Thorn and Glen Graham, and the band 'Blind Melon' was born.  In 1991 they recorded a 4 song demo tape and were rather quickly signed to a recording contract. 'Blind Melon's' first album, entitled 'Blind Melon' was released in 1992.  In the Summer of 1993 a video single of their song 'No Rain' was released, which catapulted Blind Melon to stardom.  'Blind Melon' had a long and extensive tour in support of their album but allegedly they had to take a short hiatus from the tour so that Hoon could get treatment for drug addiction.  At a show in Vancouver Hoon was arrested for indecent exposure for allegedly disrobing onstage and urinating on a fan. In 1994, 'Blind Melon' began recording their second album, 'Soup' which they completed in the spring of 1995.  1995 also brought the birth of Shannon Hoon's daughter, Nico, on July 11th.

With the release of 'Soup', 'Blind Melon's' record company was anxious for them to go on tour to promote the album.  But going on tour is difficult when your lead singer is in rehab, so an early release from rehab had to be obtained.  This was accomplished by stipulating that a drug counselor would accompany Shannon while 'Blind Melon' was on tour.

Allegedly after a concert in Houston on October 20th, 1995, Shannon Hoon went into an all night cocaine binge.  On October 21st, 1995, one of 'Blind Melon's' roadies went to wake up Shannon Hoon for a sound check, but instead found him dead.  His death has been attributed to an accidental cocaine overdose.

Shannon Hoon kissing Layne Staley.