3 Touching and Tragic Stories of Celebrities with Drug Problems

by The List Love · March 26, 2019

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Thanks to the media, celebrities with drug problems have their dirty laundry publicized far and wide.

Because of this, it can seem that fame and addiction go hand in hand. In truth, the percentage of celebrity drug users is in line with the national percentages for the US.

Any drug-related death is one too many. Yet, it always seems sadder when fate cuts these talented individuals down in their prime.

Here are some of the celebrity drug deaths that shocked us all in recent times.

Celebrities With Drug Problems but No Name

The artist-formerly-known-as-Prince was well known for his bizarre behavior both on stage and off.

Not only was the star famously fond of purple-everything, but he also changed his name to a symbol during 1993. In 2000, he promptly changed it back again.

It wasn’t until his death in 2016 that one of the reasons behind the superstar’s antics became apparent.

Like the equally enigmatic Michael Jackson, he died from a massive drug overdose. In Prince’s case, the culprit was fentanyl.

Shortly before his death, Prince had a few close calls with drugs that he managed to write off as accidental. However, a search of his apartment during the investigation told a different story.

Prince’s apartment housed a variety of prescription pain killers. Some of them hidden in harmless over-the-counter medication bottles.

He never confided in anyone about his problem and kept it well hidden until just a few days before his death. It was only then that close associates began to question Prince’s drug use history, but it was too late.

Saying No to the Wrong Rehab

One of Amy Winehouse’s best-known hits later appeared to be a thinly veiled cry for help before her untimely death in 2011, aged just 27.

While Amy succumbed to alcohol poisoning in the end, she battled with a lifelong addiction to escaping from reality any way she could. She was no stranger to heroin either.

The truth of the matter is that it wasn’t drugs or alcohol that killed Amy Winehouse, it was the addiction that did the trick.

Although this young star did attend rehab, the sense of belonging that she craved eluded her every time.

Don’t be like Amy, if you need help for substance abuse, read this advice about searching online for ‘substance abuse treatment near me‘ first.

It’s important to choose a rehab facility that really can help you heal.

Heartbroken?

Tom Petty had just completed one last road trip with his band the Heartbreakers in September 2017 when he died from a drug overdose at home.

Petty had battled through the tour with a fractured hip. Despite his history of opioid addiction, his doctor prescribed a hefty cocktail of painkillers to help him through it.

At the time of his death, he had oxycodone, fentanyl, acetyl fentanyl, and despropionyl fentanyl, temazepam, alprazolam, and citalopram in his bloodstream.

This long list hints that Petty’s problem with opioids was far from over, despite appearances. Tom Petty joins the growing list of famous people who overdosed on fentanyl in recent times.