Keith Moon biography

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Profile

Keith John Moon was born on August 23rd, 1946, in London to parents Alfred and Kathleen Moon. Growing up in Wembley, he was at best a mediocre student. Frustrated by school work, Moon found an outlet for his energy and creativity in a drum kit purchased for him by his mother when he was 14 years old. Moon joined the local music scene and never looked back. He first emulated the style of American surf rock and R&B drummers when he joined his first band, The Escorts.

Moon found his way to The Who in 1964 at the age of 17. Although the group had a reputation for being a contentious bunch of musicians, Moon flourished in the creative atmosphere. He developed his distinctive, hard-driving style which propelled drumming from merely background support to a lead instrument. He created an enormous drum kit by combining several individual drum kits. Moon had a larger-than-life personality and his onstage antics were legend. He earned the nickname "Moon the Loon" for pulling stunts such as filling a clear drum set with water and putting goldfish in the modified ??tanks.?? He proceeded to play the kit during a show. During an appearance on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour television show, he loaded his drums with explosives, which detonated during the band??s finale performance of ??My Generation.??

Early in their career, The Who developed their aggressive style, which involved them destroying their instruments on stage at the conclusion of a performance. Moon was a very enthusiastic, although not very good, singer. The rest of the band members banned him from singing on their albums, which resulted in a game whereby Moon kept trying to sneak into recording sessions.

There is no doubt that Moon was an extremely talented drummer, and his creativity changed the sound of rock drumming forever. He died tragically when he was just 32 years old. On September 7th, 1978, after celebrating the release of The Buddy Holly Story at a party thrown by Paul and Linda McCartney, Moon returned home with his girlfriend, Annette Walter-Lax. He died later that night of an overdose of Clomethiazole (Heminevrin), a drug prescribed to help wean him off alcohol.

In addition to his work with The Who, Keith Moon also collaborated with future members of Led Zeppelin on several projects. In addition, he released one solo album in 1975.

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