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(#5) GG Allin (1993)
GG Allin was known for his disturbing performances involving throwing feces and assaulting audience members. He even claimed he would kill himself on stage.
The final show was chaotic; Allin destroyed a microphone and fought a sound technician. Afterwards, the musician went to a New York City hotel and partied throughout the night.
The next morning, on June 28, 1993, Allin was found dead on the floor from a drug overdose. Johnny Puke was at the hotel, writing:
One thing that I hadn't thought about that looked really weird and suspicious was that after GG fell asleep, Liz, my girlfriend, and I all took Polaroids of us laying next to GG that we were gonna show him in [the] morning. We were cuddling with him and smiling in the photos...
Well, the police found the Polaroids and confiscated them. And then we all had to go down to the 9th Precinct to tell our version of the story. At first, they were very suspicious of us.
Authorities cleared Puke and his friends of any wrongdoing, but Allin's death and his final show went down in history.
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(#1) Tom Petty (2017)
Tom Petty expected his final show to become part of his last major tour, not serve as the conclusion to his career. Petty and his Heartbreakers left the fateful 2017 show after playing "American Girl" - it was the last time they all made music together.
Before his death, Petty doubted his participation in many more huge tours, noting:
We [the band] are all on the backside of our sixties... I have a granddaughter now; I'd like to see [her] as much as I can. I don't want to spend my life on the road. This tour will take me away for four months. With a little kid, that's a lot of time.
The final performance, which took place at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, CA, was just one week prior to his passing on October 2, 2017.
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(#2) Chris Cornell (2017)
Chris Cornell's final performance took place in Detroit, MI, just a short while before he took his own life on May 18, 2017. The show ended with a performance of "Slaves and Bulldozers," which seemingly included a bit of Led Zeppelin's "In My Time of Dying."
Soon after, Cornell's body was found. In response, his publicist mentioned:
His wife, Vicky, and family were shocked to learn of his sudden and unexpected passing, and they will be working closely with the medical examiner to determine the cause.
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(#10) Mike Scaccia (2012)
Mike Scaccia, a guitarist for groups like Ministry and Rigor Mortis, died while onstage in Fort Worth, TX, performing at a birthday celebration for a bandmate on December 23, 2012. Rushed to the hospital, Scaccia met his end; no one could revive him.
Former Ministry bandmate, Al Jourgensen, shared:
I just lost my lil' brother and my best friend - the 13th Planet compound is devastated, completely in shock and shattered.
Mikey was not only the best guitar player in the history of music, but he was a close, close, close part of our family - and I just lost a huge chunk of my heart today. Our lives are forever changed. Life without Mikey is like orange juice without pulp - kind of bland. I have no words to express what this guy meant to me, my family, my career... Everything!
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(#12) Avicii (2016)
Nearly two years before his April 20, 2018 death, popular DJ and musician Avicii - whose real name was Tim Bergling - announced his retirement. He performed his final show at the open-air dance club, Ushuaïa Ibiza, in Spain. During the event, Avicii alluded to his retirement, thanking fans for their support:
I know I am blessed to be able to travel all around the world and perform, but I have too little left for the life of a real person behind the artist...
I could not ask for a better last show. Thank you so much for coming; you’re awesome.
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(#8) Daryle Singletary (2018)
Country musician Daryle Singletary's last song at his final show in Louisiana was a version of Johnny Paycheck's "Old Violin." It concludes with these eerie lines:
We'd give our all to music
And soon, we'd give our life
Many in the music community mourned the 46-year-old's death on February 12, 2018. The Grand Ole Opry said:
Our hearts are breaking at the loss of Daryle Singletary this morning. He was a great friend to us all, and our thoughts and prayers are with his family.
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Many musicians have been chasing their dreams all their lives, and their music was still moving and shocking until the final performance before their dearth. The death of these top musicians is a regret in the music world, their absence will also affect the music and popular culture afterward. There is no doubt that they have left the most beautiful cultural and musical heritage, some of which are still classics today, and this music is eternal.
With the passage of time, the world loses countless great musical artists every year, and their contributions are worth remembering, their influence is profound. Let us enjoy the 12 most haunting final performances again, you could find some available videos and short introductions with the random tool.
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