We lost countless rock singers because of reasons related to drug and alcohol use, and most of them, unfortunately, had tragic, premature deaths, which left fans and their loved ones devastated. Like Sid Vicious, whose tragedy could have been prevented if it weren’t for the plague of love, or Darby Crash, who could be alive today if it weren’t for his search for glory.
Both of these musicians suffered from drug abuse stemming from different causes and lost their lives due to overdose, intentionally or unintentionally. Still, they were not the only victims of addiction, and overdose is not the only ‘side effect’ or risk of drug use.
Free‘s guitarist, Paul Kossoff, was known for his extensive use of drugs since his teenage years, and his condition often clouded his career while he was still alive. But the effect his habits and career had on each other was reciprocal, as the latter also impacted his approach to drug use, especially after 1970.
He was one of the founders of the band, along with drummer Simon Kirke, vocalist Paul Rodgers, and bassist Andy Fraser, and one of the reasons causing their split in 1973. Free started their career well and improved along the way, creating a fan base for themselves and contributing to the evolution of British hard rock until cracks opened on the walls due to the tumult related to Kossoff.
The first blow to their integrity actually came from the conflict between Fraser and Rodgers, as one felt unheard when it came to creative approaches. They made a hard decision and parted ways following the release of their live album, ‘Free Live!,’ in 1971, only to be reunited a year later as they could not achieve the success they expected outside of Free.
So, they reformed the band to maintain their success as a band and do something about Kossoff’s rapidly declining health because of drug use. They released ‘Free at Last’ in the same year and attempted to continue as before to create admirable pieces, but soon, the band would realize that the guitarist’s addiction was affecting their musical quality as well as his health.
With the influence of the barbiturates he took, Kossoff’s performance got weak, and he failed to show up to some live or studio sessions, frustrating other members, especially Andy Fraser. The bassist got fed up with the guitarist’s unreliability and left Free for good to form a new band called Sharks in 1972. His departure fueled the fire of collapse, which was slowly surrounding the band and adding to Kossoff’s suffering.
The Free guitarist was not only struggling with his band and musical career’s condition but also battling his inner demons, who began to consume him after the death of his idol, Jimi Hendrix, in 1970. Kossoff was deeply impacted by Hendrix’s departure from this world and never managed to recover from it, as Simon Kirke revealed to BBC News in the same year.
The former drummer of the band explained his bandmate’s reaction to his idol’s death news as follows:
“I was in a band called Free at the time and had to break the news to our guitarist, Paul Kossoff. He idolised Jimi. We used to sit hunched over a record player listening to the guitar solos.
He never really recovered from Jimi’s death.“
So, the increasing distance between the band members put the boot in Kossoff’s deteriorating mental and physical health along with his bad emotional state due to Jimi Hendrix’s death. Things got gradually worse after Free released their last album, ‘Heartbreaker,’ which reflected the pain they had to go through as a band, in 1973.
At that point, Free disbanded permanently, and all the members went on to form new bands. Kossoff became a founder of Back Street Crawler, taking its name after his solo album, and released two projects with them although they couldn’t attract as much attention as the early works from his former band since their existence was clouded by the guitarist’s relationship with drugs.
The band remained separated and did not attempt to reunite until 1975. That year, while Kossoff was still working with Back Street Crawler and trying to heal from his addiction and its effects, which caused his heart to stop at some point, Rodgers and Kirke offered to play with him on a British tour set to start in 1976.
Paul Kossoff was overjoyed to play with his former bandmates once again and try to sort his life out following this offer. However, unfortunately, he couldn’t get the chance to make this wish come true because he passed away in 1976 on a plane headed to New York City due to a pulmonary embolism. Thus, the guitarist took his place in the list of musicians whose story was left incomplete.
