Hank Williams... an alcoholic who also took morphine to ease the pain of an old back injury. He was fired from the Grand Ole Opry and missed a number of shows both there, and while touring. When he died of a heart attack in the back seat of his Cadillac, he had alcohol, chloral hydrate and morphine in his system. The autopsy also showed that he had also been severely beaten and kicked in the groin.
Hank Williams was a Christian but could not get the 'monkey off his back'. That monkey finally killed him. You may know of his son, Bocephus, from the old Monday Night Football theme "All My Rowdy Friends are Here on Monday Night"
why beaten?
Maybe creativity costs a hefty price, but I’ve written some good song without narcotics and many guys I know have written GREAT songs without.
But like I said before, I did usually get pretty dam drunk while playing drums in a band.