BY ALEX GUNN (plus various sources)
In 1981, Bob Marley succumbed to the cancer that had been slowly spreading throughout his body. The illness originated from a melanoma on his toe, which he refused to properly treat due to his religious beliefs.
Marley had already survived an assassination attempt in 1976, which was likely a result of the hostile relationship between Jamaica’s two major political parties – the JLP, who had the support of the US, and the PNP, who were allied with Cuba. While Marley wasn’t really affiliated with either party, the PNP tried to align themselves with him, and the Rastafarian movement. Supporters of the JLP (like the US, for example) knew that getting rid of Marley would damage the PNP’s election campaign.
But Bob Marley died of cancer, so how could his death possibly be a murder? The theory goes that Carl Colby, son of CIA director William Colby, gave Marley a pair of shoes as a gift. As he put them on, he felt something sharp puncture his toe. On closer inspection, a length of copper wire was found inside the shoe. He was told his toe was cancerous less than a year later. To this day, the CIA hasn’t declassified their files on Marley.
Regarded as the greatest electric guitarist of all time, Jimi Hendrix had a profound impact on music before his death at age 27. The events surrounding his death are somewhat unclear. Hendrix’s girlfriend claims she came home to find him having trouble breathing, and he died en route to the hospital. On the other hand, the paramedics who were called to the scene claim he was already dead when they arrived. Despite these contradictory accounts, it was determined that Hendrix died choking on his own vomit, after mixing sleeping pills with alcohol.
However, there was one inconsistency that was seemingly glossed over by coroners. Hendrix had a relatively low blood alcohol content at the time of his death, but his lungs were filled with red wine. The amount of liquid in his lungs was more consistent with somebody who had been waterboarded.
But who would want to kill a rock legend? The FBI kept a file on Hendrix, mainly because of his subversive nature and association with the Black Panther Party. Cynthia McKinney, the Green Party’s 2008 Presidential nominee, believes his death was part of a government plot to eradicate black leaders. There is also a rumor that a life insurance policy covering Hendrix listed his manager, Mike Jeffreys (an unsavory character with mob affiliations) as the beneficiary.
Given that Cobain’s entire life has been the subject of intense fascination and scrutiny, it’s no wonder that his death has spawned one of the most compelling conspiracy theories in music. After bringing alt-rock to the mainstream in the early 90’s, the troubled songwriter became an overnight icon. His final years were marred by drug addiction and disillusionment with the rock star lifestyle. Cobain died in 1994 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound … we think.
In the years following his death, private investigator Tom Grant has theorized that Cobain’s wife, Courtney Love, had arranged for Kurt to be murdered. Grant cites stacks of circumstantial evidence to bolster these claims. For one, the amount of heroin found in Cobain’s system was higher than the lethal dose, and would have made it quite difficult to operate a gun. Furthermore, the shotgun he used was allegedly too long to shoot oneself in the head with. Grant’s theory was further boosted some years later, when Eldon Hoke began claiming that Courtney Love had offered him $50,000 to kill Cobain.
Late one night in July 1969, the corpse of former Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones was found face down at the bottom of his swimming pool. Jones was a member of the Stones from the very beginning, and had basically formed the band himself. About a month before his death, Jones’ drug and alcohol problems had lead to his departure from the band. The coroner’s report stated “death by misadventure,” and left it at that. You can’t really blame them – this was a man who partied so hard he got kicked out of a band that Keith Richards still performs in to this day.
Rumors that Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones’ death was actually a homicide really picked up steam in 2009. An investigative journalist brought forth evidence that Jones was killed during a fight with his pool cleaner Frank Thorogood, who, in his dying bed, decide to confess.
One of the highest selling artists of all time, Whitney Houston tragically died in 2012. Like many on this list, she struggled with drugs and alcohol throughout much of her career. These problems were only exacerbated during her tumultuous high profile marriage to singer Bobby Brown, during which she was the victim of spousal abuse. Houston never managed to beat her addictions, and in 2012 she drowned in the bathtub of her hotel room after consuming alcohol, cocaine and various prescription drugs.
But former police officer Paul Huebl has a different story to tell. Huebl believes that Houston owed a huge drug debt, to the tune of $1.5 million. Apparently, video footage exists of two men entering Houston’s suite on the night she died. The men tried to collect the debts, and drowned her when she refused. The coroner’s report noted she had wounds on her arms and face, and that her bath water was so hot it burnt the skin off her back. Adding stock to the rumors, her former manager and sister-in-law Pat Houston claimed Whitney was murdered at first. She mysteriously changed her mind soon after.
