Derek And The Dominos’ Jim Gordon Passes Away After Four Decades In Prison

Last Thursday, officials confirmed that Jim Gordon, the former drummer of Derek and the Dominos, passed away at the age of 77. His cause of death was not officially announced, but the musician was known to have been worn out by the mental struggles that caused him to end up in prison.

Gordon was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1983 after years of struggle that was brushed off due to his drug use, which clouded the doctors’ judgment. The drummer constantly expressed he was hearing voices in his head and starving himself because of them, but his problems were thought to be caused by his addiction, prompting the professionals to seek treatment based on that.

His undiagnosed and untreated mental sickness worsened over time and eventually pushed him over the edge, resulting in his imprisonment, which ironically helped determine his problem. In 1983, the musician got arrested because he attacked his mother with a hammer and fatally stabbed her since, according to his claim, the voices in his head told him to. His schizophrenia got properly diagnosed after the incident, but it did not stop the court from sentencing him to a lifetime in prison.

Gordon had to spend the rest of his life at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville, where he received treatment for his mental problem until his death. Publicist Bob Merlis confirmed that the musician lost his life at the facility last Monday in a public statement and expressed that although the official cause of death had yet to be determined, the drummer most probably died of natural causes.

In the announcement, Merlis said:

“[He died] after a long incarceration and lifelong battle with mental illness.”

Jim Gordon was a talented musician who worked with many successful names, such as Alice Cooper and George Harrison, along with Derek and the Dominos, founded by Eric Clapton. He contributed significantly to the band’s most famous track ‘Layla,’ and was often regarded as a fantastic drummer by Clapton. If not for the late discovery of his mental illness, his life could have been better, and he could have achieved more success in the field. May he rest in peace.