“Glee” star Cory Monteith died of a toxic mixture of heroin and alcohol on July 13, 2013, at the age of 31. The actor, who spoke highly of wrestling with drug abuse since he was a teenager, sought treatment in rehab in April 2013.
Heath Ledger
Heath Ledger died in January 2008 at the age of 28, and the cause of his death has been linked to various prescription medications, including sleeping pills. In an interview in 2007 with The New York TimesLedger said he sometimes slept for only two hours a night when work was stressing him out, and on one occasion he took several Ambiens to fall asleep, only to wake up soon after.
Amy Winehouse
British singer Amy Winehouse poses for photos after being interviewed by The Associated Press in a studio in north London, February. 16, 2007. Winehouse was found dead of alcohol poisoning in her London home on July 23, 2011. The singer was 27 years old.
Jimi Hendrix
Guitarist Jimi Hendrix, seen here in Woodstock in August 1969, was 27 when he died in a hotel room in London in 1970. He suffocated in his own vomit after taking sleeping pills and red wine.
Kurt Cobain
Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain was just 27 when he killed himself with a shotgun at his home in Seattle in April 1994. Just weeks earlier, he had been treated for a drug overdose in Italy.
James Dean
“Rebel Without a Cause” actor James Dean was 24 years old. when he died Sept. 30, 1955, in a frontal collision.
Janis Joplin
Janis Joplin was found dead in her room at the Landmark Hotel in Hollywood, California, in October. 4, 1970. She was 27. The official cause was an accidental heroin overdose.
John Belushi
Actor and “Saturday Night Live” cabaret artist John Belushi was 33 when he was found dead in his bungalow at Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles on March 5, 1982. The cause of death was a combined injection of cocaine and heroin.
Dana Plato
“Diff’rent Strokes” actress Dana Plato was 34 when she died of a drug overdose in an RV at her mother’s Oklahoma home in 1999. Her death was later ruled a suicide.
Jim Morrison
Doors frontman Jim Morrison was 27 when he was found dead in the bathroom of his Paris apartment in 1971. His death was believed to have been caused by a heart attack brought on by alcoholism and drug abuse.
Marilyn Monroe
Actress Marilyn Monroe, seen posing in a 1953 photo, was 36 when she died in 1962 of barbiturate overdose.
Brian Jones
Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones, known for his drug and alcohol problems, drowned in the pool of his English estate in 1969. He was 27.
Bruce Lee
Martial arts actor Bruce Lee was 33 when he died of a possible allergic reaction in 1973.
Cass Elliot
“Mama Cass” Elliot, left, of the Moms and Dads was 32 when she died of a heart attack caused by obesity in 1974.
Keith Moon
The Who drummer Keith Moon, right, was 32 when he died in 1978 from an overdose of medication.
Aaliyah
Singer Aaliyah was just 22 years old when she died in a plane crash in August. 25, 2001, in the Bahamas.
Chris Farley
Chris Farley was found dead in December. 18, 1997, at the age of 33. An autopsy later revealed that he had died from an overdose of cocaine and morphine. A major contributing factor, the medical researcher said, was a narrowing of the arteries supplying the heart muscle.
Jayne Mansfield
Actress Jayne Mansfield, a sex symbol of the 60s, can be seen here in Paris. The mother of actress Mariska Hargitay, Mansfield was 34 when she was killed in a car accident in 1967.
Buddy Holly
Rock pioneer Buddy Holly. was 22 when he died in a plane crash in 1959. Also on board that fatal flight were singers Ritchie Valens, 17, and the Big Bopper, 28.
River Phoenix
Actor River Phoenix died in October. 31, 1993, after collapsing outside the nightclub Viper Room in Hollywood. He was 23. An autopsy showed apparently deadly levels of cocaine, morphine, Valium, marijuana and ephedrine in his body. The official cause of death was drug-induced heart failure.
Freddie Prins
Actor Freddie Prinze was 22 when he shot himself in 1977. His death was originally ruled as suicide, but in a civil case, a jury later ruled that the death was accidental because Prinze had a history of playing with guns. He is the father of actor Freddie Prinze Jr.
Patsy Cline
Country singer Patsy Cline was 30 when she died in a plane crash in March 1963, near Camden, Tenn.
Andy Gibb
Bee Gees singer Andy Gibb died in March 1988, just five days after his 30th birthday. The cause was heart failure which was alternately attributed to drug abuse or a viral infection.
Hank Williams
Country singer Hank Williams turned 29 when he died of a heart attack in 1953. He was found dead in his Cadillac convertible outside a West Virginia gas station.