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Posted on 08/23/2026 6:09:20 PM PDT by DoodleBob
Keith Moon was never interested in playing the drums like everyone else.
The legendary The Who drummer, who once jokingly called himself “the best Keith Moon-type drummer in the world,” would have turned 80 today, Aug. 23, 2026.
Born in 1946 in Wembley, London, Moon became one of rock’s most distinctive and influential drummers before his death at just 32.
The Who’s official biography describes him as one of the most influential drummers in rock history.
Moon joined The Who in 1964 after an impromptu audition and quickly developed a style that was almost impossible to mistake for anyone else’s. Rather than just keeping time, he treated the drums almost like a lead instrument. He filled songs with explosive rolls, crashes and constantly shifting rhythms.
His approach was a perfect match for The Who, whose explosive performances helped establish them as one of rock’s most powerful bands. Moon played on some of the group’s most important recordings, including My Generation, A Quick One, The Who Sell Out, Tommy, Who’s Next and Quadrophenia.
And Moon’s reputation was about much more than his drumming.
He became famous for his outrageous personality and legendary antics, earning the nickname “Moon the Loon.” But beneath the wild stories was a musician whose playing fundamentally changed what audiences expected from a rock drummer.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
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The new 70
I was at a Yes concert at Madison Square Garden in September 1978 and from the blue seats hung a homemade sign on a bed sheet the read “LONG LIVE THE WHO”
Thats how I found out he died.
13 months later I saw them at the Garden with another drummer
i heard he came up with the name led zeppelin, making a joke that their band (not his) would bomb and crash like a lead zeppelin
That other drummer was the son of Ringo Starr.
Should have said no to drugs.
GPT for Freeper day drinkers:
**Keith Moon died on September 7, 1978, at age 32, from an accidental overdose of clomethiazole (brand name Heminevrin), a sedative that had been prescribed to help him deal with alcohol-withdrawal symptoms.** He had been taking the drug as part of an effort to stop drinking. ([The Guardian][1])
The remarkable detail is that **32 clomethiazole tablets were found in his stomach**, although contemporary accounts noted that only six had dissolved. His death was ruled an **accidental overdose**, not suicide. ([The Guardian][1])
[1]: https://www.theguardian.com/music/us-news-blog/2012/apr/13/keith-moon-london-olympics-organisers?utm_source=chatgpt.com “London 2012 organisers wanted Keith Moon to play at Olympics ceremony | The Who | The Guardian”
Why take that many sedatives?
GPT for Freeper day drinkers:
He died **in the same bedroom—and reportedly the very same bed—in which Cass Elliot (“Mama Cass”) had died four years earlier**.
Keith Moon was living in **Flat 12, 9 Curzon Place, Mayfair, London**, an apartment owned by Harry Nilsson. Contemporary reporting says Moon was **found dead in bed** by his fiancée Annette Walter-Lax. ([The Guardian][1])
The bizarre coincidence is that **Cass Elliot died in that same bedroom in 1974**, and multiple accounts identify it as the **same bed**. Harry Nilsson himself later said Cass had died “in my bed.” ([Nilsson Schmilsson][2])
So the extraordinary sequence is:
**Cass Elliot — 1974 — age 32 — Harry Nilsson’s bed**
**Keith Moon — 1978 — age 32 — apparently the same bed**.
That is one hell of a cursed piece of rock-and-roll real estate.
[1]: https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2010/sep/08/archive-keith-moon-found-dead?utm_source=chatgpt.com “From the archive, 8 September 1978: Keith Moon found dead | Music | The Guardian”
[2]: https://nilssonschmilsson.com/colin-richardsons-1978-interview-with-harry-nilsson.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com “Colin Richardson’s 1978 Interview with Harry Nilsson”
I haven’t taken any sedatives since the 1980s.
By the way you have a cool user name.
On the Smother’s Brothers show, he set off an explosive in his drum kit. Blew out Townshend’s eardrum. Maybe an M80?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bgJC4YSNF4
Maybe. But Kenny Jones was pretty hot.
More to your point the greatest drummer still alive -
Carter Beauford
JMHO
Kenney Jones (Faces)
Zac Starkey joined after the their long “retirement” and comeback.
I read on Wikipedia:
“In mid-1978, Moon moved into Flat 12, 9 Curzon Place (later Curzon Square), Mayfair, London, renting from Harry Nilsson. Singer Cass Elliot of the Mamas & the Papas had died there four years earlier, at the age of 32; Nilsson was concerned about letting the flat to Moon, believing it was cursed. Townshend disagreed, assuring him that “lightning wouldn’t strike the same place twice””.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Moon
And they fired him.
https://people.com/zak-starkey-ringo-starr-son-breaks-silence-exiting-the-who-exclusive-11716449
“The legendary drummer, who would have turned 80 today”
He hoped he would die, before he got old. What’s the problem again?
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