It Ain't Hemingway

We lost many of the best musicians in the world through unfortunate tragedies. One of the inevitable aspects of being a being a successful musician is touring. That involves some kind of transporting from one gig to the next. It does not matter how big a band gets, tragic accidents and personal injury can happen to anyone. Even the biggest most well-equipped buses can be involved in horrible accidents. Some of the world’s biggest bands have been a victim to tour bus collisions.

In 1986, the heavy metal band Metallica was on tour in Europe in support of their album Master of Puppets. While traveling through Sweden the tour bus flipped and bassist Cliff Burton was thrown from his bunk. The tour bus landed on top of the guitarist killing him on sight. The rest of the band suffered minor injuries.

In 1990, Gloria Estefan was traveling via tour bus in Scranton. PA amidst a snowstorm.  The tour bus was rammed from the back by an 18 wheeler. The pop singer suffered a critical spine fracture. Titanium rods were placed in her back. The singer has since made a full recovery.

En route to Boston from Toronto in December 2009, Weezer’s bus, which contained lead singer Rivers Cuomo, his wife and baby daughter, struck some black ice, which sent the bus crashing into the median and over a guardrail and landing in a ditch. Cuomo suffered three cracked ribs and minor internal injuries. The band had to cancel their remaining dates for the year.

When Kings Of Leon were on tour during the spring of 2014, their tour bus swerved while narrowly avoiding a pedestrian in Boston who jumped in front of the bus. Drummer Nathan Followill was treated for broken ribs after being injured in the accident. The band had to cancel dates until Followill was well enough to perform again.