Shannon Hoon

About Shannon Hoon

Richard Shannon Hoon (September 26, 1967 – October 21, 1995) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He rose to fame as frontman and lead singer of the band Blind Melon until his drug overdose in 1995.

Hoon was born and raised in Lafayette, Indiana with his half-sister Anna and half-brother Tim. Hoon reportedly began using his middle name, Shannon, to avoid confusion with his father, who was also named Richard. In high school, Hoon was a promising athlete in football, wrestling and pole vaulting. However, he also gained local notoriety with the Lafayette police, following several arrests for misbehavior. Hoon graduated from McCutcheon High School in 1985. After graduation, Hoon joined a local band named Styff Kytten, which also featured guitarist Michael Kelsey. Hoon took on the role of frontman and lead singer for the band. It was around this time that Hoon wrote his first song, "Change". Shannon was also a member of the Lafayette band mank RAGE along with David Lank and Darren Mickler (briefly) during this time.

Hoon left Indiana for Los Angeles in hopes of making it in the music industry. After arriving there Hoon met musicians Brad Smith, and Rogers Stevens at a party. Smith and Stevens saw Hoon perform his song Change acoustically and invited Hoon to play with them. Christopher Thorn and Glen Graham were then brought into the fold and soon the five musicians decided to form Blind Melon. In 1991, the new bandmates produced a four song demo tape and subsequently signed a $500,000 recording contract with Capitol Records.