The 1970s were a lawless era in the world of rock n' roll, when rock stars weren't just musicians – they were living legends. Fuelled by fame, fortune, and a cocktail of substances, these stars became notorious for their wild ways. They trashed hotel rooms, pushed their bodies to the limit, and scandalised society at every turn. While some rockers burned out fast, like The Who's Keith Moon, others have survived against all odds and continue to tour to this day (Iggy Pop, anyone?) It's quite heartbreaking, though, to read about some of the young talent – such as John Bonham – who died at 32 years old due to his alcohol issues. Join HELLO! as we discover what happened to the untamed legends of the '70s, five decades on from their lives of debauchery and hedonism.
Ozzy Osbourne
With a nickname like the "Prince of Darkness", it's no surprise that Ozzy tops this list. He once claimed to have taken acid every day for a year, just "to see what would happen", and Mötley Crüe rocker Nikki Sixx swore he saw him snort a line of ants once. During his time in Black Sabbath, he reportedly had cocaine flown in on a private plane due to his heavy addiction to the drug. The band kicked him out in 1979 for partying too hard, which did nothing to stop his wild ways. Other tales of Ozzy's outrageous antics include biting the head off a live bat on stage (he thought it was a toy), doing a striptease on a restaurant table at a meeting with CBS Records executives, and urinating on the Alamo Cenotaph in Texas.
The rocker slowly began to settle down after he welcomed his younger children, Aimee, Kelly, and Jack with his wife, Sharon Osbourne. He even rebranded himself as a lovable, if not eccentric, family man with the Emmy-winning MTV reality series The Osbournes. Ozzy also battled a series of health issues beginning in 2003 when he suffered a near-fatal quad bike crash at his English estate, breaking multiple ribs, vertebrae, and his left collarbone. He was in a coma for eight days after the accident, and it left him with lifelong health issues. The father of six revealed in 2020 that he had been living with Parkinson's disease for years, and continued to undergo multiple surgeries before his death in July 2025, which came just weeks after performing a triumphant farewell show for a crowd of 40,000.
He revealed to The Guardian two months prior to his passing that he was sober and not interested in going out anymore. "I don’t smoke dope or do any of the rock star lifestyle anymore," he said. "I’m kind of like a homebody. I never go out. I never hang out in bars – I don’t drink." Ozzy's death was mourned by millions around the world, as tributes flowed in from legends like Rod Stewart and Elton John. As a member of Gen Z, I was introduced to Ozzy via his reality TV show, and heard about his antics through the grapevine (the bat story is a doozy!). I never grasped the full extent of Ozzy's powerful legacy until his death, when I came to realise that he shaped the music industry in ways most could only dream of.
Keith Richards
While everyone knows Keith Richards as the hard-partying guitarist of the Rolling Stones, many can't believe that he is still alive against all odds after decades of debauchery. Being in one of the most iconic rock bands in history comes with its own vices, all of which Keith indulged in. The stories told about him are legendary: he indulged in cocaine after every song that the Stones performed on their 1975 US tour, he once stayed awake for nine days straight, and shockingly snorted his father's ashes in 2002, claiming that he "couldn't resist". It's clear that Keith's rock star lifestyle endured well past the '70s, if this story is anything to go by. The icon eventually slowed down in his middle age, telling The Irish Independent that drugs were simply "not interesting" anymore.
"They are very institutionalised and bland. And anyway, I've done 'em all," he quipped, adding that he wasn't off "all of this stuff" but was working towards sobriety. Speaking to The Telegraph in 2023, the father of five explained his sobriety journey in more detail. ''The cigarettes I gave up in 2019, I haven’t touched them since,'' he said. ''I gave up heroin in 1978. I gave up cocaine in 2006. I still like a drink occasionally – because I'm not going to heaven any time soon – but apart from that, I'm trying to enjoy being straight. It's a unique experience for me.'' Keith is still touring with the Stones at 81 years old and shows no sign of stopping. Honestly, the fact that he can even stand today after taking substances his whole life surely counts as a medical miracle. If not, then I don't know what does.
You may also like
John Bonham
Led Zeppelin's John Bonham – or ''Bonzo'' to his friends – was as celebrated for his ferocious drumming as for his destructive streak. Affectionately remembered as a "friendly, huggable bloke", as described by his friend, fellow musician Bev Bevan, he slipped into alcoholism as the band's fame grew. "Unfortunately, the drink just got too much for him," Bev said in a 1980 interview. "He overdid it and could become quite aggressive. He was similar to Keith Moon. They felt they had to live up to their reputations.” And live up to it he did. One of John's most famous exploits was when he rode through a hotel lobby twice on the back of a motorcycle, causing abject chaos. He repeated the stunt countless times in several other hotels.
In September 1980, just as the band prepared for a US tour, John consumed around 40 shots of vodka during a marathon session. Put to bed on his side by an assistant, he later rolled onto his back and choked, dying from pulmonary aspiration at just 32. ''It was just at the point where we had all come back together again," said his bandmate, John Paul Jones. "We had high hopes it was all coming right.
''Bonzo had been getting a bit erratic, and he wasn't in good shape. There were some good moments, but then he started on the vodka. I think he had been drinking because there were some problems in his personal life. But he died because of an accident." Led Zeppelin disbanded shortly after his untimely death, sharing that they simply couldn't go on without him and his crackling energy. For someone with such an explosive life, the quiet ending of it feels almost cruel, like a burning star simply blinking out of existence.
Steven Tyler
The Aerosmith star was so notorious for his partying ways that he earned an unforgettable nickname. Steven and his bandmate, Joe Perry, were dubbed the "Toxic Twins" thanks to their wild ways and shocking substance abuse. The moniker barely does justice to their antics. In his biography, the 'Dream On' singer estimated that he spent over $6 million on drugs during his career, and even had a "cocaine roadie" who would supply the band on tour. Their consumption was so heavy that they would sometimes forget their own songs. Steven revealed that they would hear them on the radio, thinking that they would like to cover the tracks, only to realise that they were Aerosmith's own tunes.
"We believed that the road to wisdom was through excess," Steven later told GQ. "But it got really bad in the '80s…What happens with using is: It works in the beginning, but it doesn't work in the end. It takes you down. There's nothing but jail, insanity, or death." The father of four has been in and out of rehab for decades, and recalled an intervention that set him on the straight and narrow at a pivotal time for the band. ''There was a moment in 1988 where management and the band pulled an intervention on me,'' he recalled in an interview with Haute Living. ''They thought, 'Get the lead singer sober, and all our problems would be over.' I am grateful and owe a thanks to them for my sobriety.'' Would Aerosmith have survived the '80s without that moment? I'll let you decide.
After decades on the road together, Aerosmith was forced to stop touring for good in 2024 when Steven permanently injured his vocal chords at a concert. ''He has spent months tirelessly working on getting his voice to where it was before his injury," a statement from the band read. "We've seen him struggling despite having the best medical team by his side. Sadly, it is clear that a full recovery from his vocal injury is not possible.''We have made a heartbreaking and difficult, but necessary, decision – as a band of brothers – to retire from the touring stage. It has been the honour of our lives to have our music become part of yours. In every club, on every massive tour, and at moments grand and private, you have given us a place in the soundtrack of your lives." It's clear from their final statement that Steven and the band were not ready to give up their lifelong love of performing, even after more than 50 years together.
Keith Moon
No survey of rock 'n' roll mayhem would be complete without Keith Moon – seriously, just ask my dad, who would happily spend hours recounting his insane exploits. Keith was the drummer for The Who and even earned himself the nickname "Moon the Loon", which I think speaks for itself. He was notorious for trashing hotel rooms and caused thousands of pounds' worth of damage over the years. Not only did he love to party, he also loved pulling pranks. Keith would put explosives in his own drum kits and those of his friends, and even blew up his instrument during a performance on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Show in 1967. He sliced his arm with a symbol in the process and caused permanent hearing damage to his bandmate, Pete Townshend.
Keith also liked to drive around London in his Rolls-Royce, using the in-built PA system to make fake public safety announcements about incoming tidal waves or poisonous snakes advancing on the area. You cannot make this stuff up, folks. The eccentric star famously knocked his front teeth out at his 21st birthday party in Flint, Michigan, and drove his car into a hotel pool, according to legend. It's safe to say The Who were not invited back to the Midwestern city after that. Like others on this list, Keith's light burned out too quickly, and his self-destructive behaviour caught up with him in 1978 when he overdosed on prescription pills that were actually meant to help him sober up. He was just 32 years old at the time, and broke the hearts of his bandmates irrevocably. The world lost one of its greatest drummers, and The Who lost their best friend.
Iggy Pop
No one epitomised the punk era quite like Iggy, whose onstage antics often took a dangerous turn – the star even incited riots at his shows. The stories about his wild ways are seemingly endless; on one occasion in 1973, he defecated onstage and threw it into the crowd, while another time he encouraged a biker gang to come and fight him at a show (they didn't, but the audience sure tried to). Iggy's band, The Stooges, had recorded their live album Metallic K.O. that night amid the rioting crowd, with critic Lester Bangs writing, "Nobody gets killed, but Metallic K.O. is the only rock album I know where you can actually hear hurled beer bottles breaking against guitar strings."
The frontman – who has been credited with inventing the stage dive – often went too far with his antics, even injuring himself on purpose and yelling insults at audiences. Iggy then spent some time with David Bowie in Berlin in the '80s, before managing to outlive several of his self-destructive peers against all odds. He continued to release critically acclaimed albums after leaving The Stooges and went on to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020 at the Grammys. He is still performing now, aged 78, somehow outliving his own myth to firmly cement himself as the Godfather of Punk. These days, Iggy is sober and enjoys practising Chinese mind-body-spirit exercise qigong in his spare time. Frankly, I am in disbelief at the way Iggy turned his life around to gain the respect of millions around the world – proof that sobriety can do a lot for a person.
Mick Jagger
Like his Stones bandmate and partner in crime, Keith Richards, Mick Jagger was a wild child in the '60s and '70s. The frontman infamously urinated on the wall of a petrol station in 1965, bought a Hampshire country estate while high as a kite on LSD, and partied for six months straight in the French countryside with his bandmates, where they made music and avoided paying taxes. Mick was also arrested in 1967 alongside Keith and charged with possessing amphetamines. It seems that this man has enough crazy stories to fill 100 memoirs. Everything changed when he met Jerry Hall in the late '70s, with the model claiming in her memoir that she told him to get clean or their romance was finished. He stopped taking drugs from that point onwards, but continued to drink occasionally.
''I always think it's better not to take drugs or drink or anything,'' he told Larry King. ''That’s not saying I've never done it because I have. But I sort of learned, after a while…taking drugs on a recreational level is one thing. But taking them while you're working on a stage…I don't think it was that great. ''It's the control factor," he added. "And the thing about being on stage is you really want to feel that you're sort of in control a lot, I think, because…it's not a place where you want to be out of control.'' Mick is in incredible shape for an 82-year-old, and has taken care of his health for decades with a rigorous exercise regime of yoga, swimming, cycling, dancing, and resistance training, as well as sticking to an organic diet. Like Keith, Mick plans to stop touring and performing only when he passes away, which may be in another 82 years, considering he is in the best shape of his life.