Post by Bogo on Sept 24, 2007 16:05:25 GMT -5
I got this article in a bulletin from tonya.
(By Eric Weddle/Journal & Courier)
At annual Hoon vigil, some recount a struggle for a better life
By ERIC WEDDLE
eweddle@journalandcourier.com
DAYTON -- Alison Ruess loved Blind Melon since age 11, but she didn't learn about the group's singer until her third try at going sober.
"I found out what a gorgeous young man was behind the music, and knowing about him and what he went through helped me get clean for myself," she said Sunday morning at the Dayton Cemetery. "For me to get to 24 years is a miracle. And Blind Melon guided me through it."
Shannon Hoon, lead singer of rock band Blind Melon and a Lafayette native, died in 1995 at age 28 and would have been 40 on Wednesday.
Saturday night hundreds of fans -- some from England, Sweden, and Canada -- gathered at Hoon's grave for the 12th annual all-night vigil and celebration organized by his mother, Nel.
"He is a legend," said Larry Gould, Hoon's first guitar teacher. "His music will live on forever."
Before 9 a.m. Sunday, Blind Melon's music echoed throughout the cemetery as a remaining few dozen sleepy-eyed adults and children arose from tents.
Hoon's gravestone was obscured by candles, confessional letters, inscribed rocks, elaborate ornaments, and an opened box of Cocoa Puffs -- his favorite cereal.
For many Hoon is remembered for the 1992 song and video "No Rain" that stared a bee-costume-clad dancing girl. The hit catapulted the band into multi-platinum sales and world fame.
Others have found deeper inspiration from his love-filled lyrics and personal struggle with drugs.
Sky Smith also credits Hoon with helping him go cold turkey.
Looking proudly at Smith and Ruess, Nel Hoon recounts their troubles and the successes of a new life.
"This is how Shannon lives on," she said. "Last night there were five childern here named Shannon. No one will forget him."
Currently a documentary and book about Hoon's life are in preparation.
Gould, who'd never attended the vigil before, remembered a teenage Hoon hungry to create.
"He would take what he knew, some basic guitar and his voice and just work on making songs," he said.
As late morning arrived Nel Hoon asked people to take ornaments left behind.
Sounding sleepy from the long night, Smith looked at the grave.
"That's pieces of everybody that was here," he said, as smoke curled from candles. "This says it all."
(By Eric Weddle/Journal & Courier)
At annual Hoon vigil, some recount a struggle for a better life
By ERIC WEDDLE
eweddle@journalandcourier.com
DAYTON -- Alison Ruess loved Blind Melon since age 11, but she didn't learn about the group's singer until her third try at going sober.
"I found out what a gorgeous young man was behind the music, and knowing about him and what he went through helped me get clean for myself," she said Sunday morning at the Dayton Cemetery. "For me to get to 24 years is a miracle. And Blind Melon guided me through it."
Shannon Hoon, lead singer of rock band Blind Melon and a Lafayette native, died in 1995 at age 28 and would have been 40 on Wednesday.
Saturday night hundreds of fans -- some from England, Sweden, and Canada -- gathered at Hoon's grave for the 12th annual all-night vigil and celebration organized by his mother, Nel.
"He is a legend," said Larry Gould, Hoon's first guitar teacher. "His music will live on forever."
Before 9 a.m. Sunday, Blind Melon's music echoed throughout the cemetery as a remaining few dozen sleepy-eyed adults and children arose from tents.
Hoon's gravestone was obscured by candles, confessional letters, inscribed rocks, elaborate ornaments, and an opened box of Cocoa Puffs -- his favorite cereal.
For many Hoon is remembered for the 1992 song and video "No Rain" that stared a bee-costume-clad dancing girl. The hit catapulted the band into multi-platinum sales and world fame.
Others have found deeper inspiration from his love-filled lyrics and personal struggle with drugs.
Sky Smith also credits Hoon with helping him go cold turkey.
Looking proudly at Smith and Ruess, Nel Hoon recounts their troubles and the successes of a new life.
"This is how Shannon lives on," she said. "Last night there were five childern here named Shannon. No one will forget him."
Currently a documentary and book about Hoon's life are in preparation.
Gould, who'd never attended the vigil before, remembered a teenage Hoon hungry to create.
"He would take what he knew, some basic guitar and his voice and just work on making songs," he said.
As late morning arrived Nel Hoon asked people to take ornaments left behind.
Sounding sleepy from the long night, Smith looked at the grave.
"That's pieces of everybody that was here," he said, as smoke curled from candles. "This says it all."