“Glee” star Cory Monteith died from a toxic mixture of heroin and alcohol on July 13, 2013, at the age of 31. The actor, who spoke bluntly about struggling with substance abuse since he was a teenager, sought treatment in rehab in April 2013.
Heath Ledger
Heath Ledger died in January 2008 at age 28, and the cause of his death has been linked to various prescription medications, including sleeping pills. In a 2007 interview with The New York Times, Ledger said he sometimes slept for only two hours a night when work was stressing him out, and on one occasion he took multiple Ambiens to fall asleep, only to wake up soon after.
Amy Winehouse
British singer Amy Winehouse poses for photographs after being interviewed by The Associated Press at a studio in north London, Feb. 16, 2007. Winehouse was found dead of alcohol poisoning at her home in London on July 23, 2011. The singer was 27 years old.
Jimi Hendrix
Gitarist Jimi Hendrix, seen here at Woodstock in August of 1969, was 27 when he died in a London hotel room in 1970. He choked on 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 in his Seattle home in April 1994. Just weeks before, he was treated for a drug overdoes in Italy.
James Dean
“Rebel Without a Cause” actor James Dean was 24 years old.when he died Sept. 30, 1955, in a head-on collision.
Janis Joplin
Janis Joplin was found dead in her room at the Landmark Hotel in Hollywood, Calif., on Oct. 4, 1970. She was 27. The official cause was an accidental heroin overdose.
John Belushi
Actor and “Saturday Night Live” comedian John Belushi was 33 when he was found dead in his bungalow at Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles on March 5, 1982. Cause of death was a combined injection of cocaine an d 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 bathtub of his Paris apartment in 1971. He death was believed to be 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 of barbiturate overdose in 1962.
Brian Jones
Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones, whose problems with drugs and alcohol were widely known, drowned in the swimming pool of his English estate in 1969. He was 27.
Bruce Lee
Martial arts actor Bruce Lee was 33 when he died of possible allergic reaction in 1973.
Cass Ellliot
“Mama Cass” Elliot, left, of the Mamas and the Papas was 32 when she died of a heart attack brought on by obesity in 1974.
Keith Moon
The Who drummer Keith Moon, right, was 32 when he died in 1978 of an overdose of medication.
Aaliyah
Singer Aaliyah was just 22 years old when she died in a plane crash on Aug. 25, 2001, in the Bahamas.
Chris Farley
Chris Farley was found dead on Dec. 18, 1997, at the age of 33. An autopsy later revealed that he had died of an overdose of cocaine and morphine. A significant contributing factor, the medical examiner said, was a narrowing of the arteries supplying the heart muscle.
Jayne Mansfield
Actress Jayne Mansfield, a sex symbol of the 1960s, is seen here in Paris. The mother of actress Mariska Hargitay, Mansfield was 34 when she was killed in a 1967 car accident.
Buddy Holly
Rock pioneer Buddy Holly. was 22 when he was killed in a plane crash in 1959. Also on board that fatal flight were were singers Ritchie Valens, 17, and the Big Bopper, 28.
River Phoenix
Actor River Phoenix died on Oct. 31, 1993, after collapsing outside the Viper Room nightclub in Hollywood. He was 23. An autopsy reportedly showed lethal levels of cocaine, morphine, Valium, marijuana and ephedrine in his body. The official cause of death was drug-induced heart failure.
Freddie Prinze
Actor Freddie Prinze was 22 when he shot himself in 1977. His death was originally ruled a suicide, but in a civil case, a jury later decided the death was accidental since 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 of 1988, just five days after his 30th birthday. The cause was heart failure which has alternately been attributed to drug abuse or a viral infection.
Hank Williams
Country singer Hank Williams as 29 when he died of a heart attack in 1953. He was found dead in his Cadillac convertible outside a West Virgina gas station.
