Musicians Who Have Killed People

Our favorite musicians make us happy on good days, sad on days when when you've run out of ice cream, the whole gamut of emotions. But musicians do have a dark side, as we all know. Some are abusers, drug addicts, and yes, some of the people whose music you've enjoyed have killed people.

Whether in self-defense, by accident, or, very occasionally, cold-blooded murder, there are a handful of artists in the world that have taken the life of another. Sometimes it ends their career, but for a surprising number of them, their musical life keeps moving right along. You might enjoy some of these artists and have completely forgotten that they've ended a life, or you might not have known it ever happened at all.

While plenty of musicians of all genres have bragged about killing people in their lyrics, these are some who can actually back that up.

French actress Claudine Longet was very popular in the 60s and 70s. She appeared on shows like McHale's Navy, The Name of the Game, and Hogan's Heroes. After making appearances on several variety shows, where she displayed her singing talent, she scored a recording contract, and while she continued to act, she became more focused on being a musician.

Longet's popularity only continued to grow. She became friends with Robert F. Kennedy, and was even with him the night he was killed. But Longet had another terrifying night involving a shooting in her future. On March 21, 1976, Longet called police to her home, according to The Vintage News. She had shot her boyfriend, Olympic skier Vladimir "Spider" Sabich.

Longet claimed it was accidental, that Sabich had been showing her how to use the gun when it discharged. Police took her blood and her diary. The blood showed traces of cocaine, and the diary showed their relationship wasn't exactly smooth, but since these had been obtained without a warrant, they weren't included in the trial, according to GQ. Longet was eventually charged with negligent homicide, which included 30 days in prison and a small fine. Her career immediately ended. A year later, she agreed to never discuss the incident again if Sabich's parents dropped a civil suit against her. The public was convinced she got away with murder, though, and people still debate exactly what happened that night.

In the late 90s, after the deaths of Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls, the rap world underwent a shakeup, and one of the biggest labels to come out of that era was No Limit Records, a label founded by rapper Master P and his two brothers, Silkk the Shocker and C-Murder. The labels and its artists rose quickly, even attracting the likes of Snoop Dogg, who signed with No Limit after finally leaving Death Row Records.

While Master P and Silkk the Shocker kept things pretty chill, reveling in their musical success and even branching out into other forms of entertainment, C-Murder's career was sidelined in 2003, when he was convicted of second degree murder after killing a 16-year-old fan. For still unknown reasons, Steve Thomas and C-Murder got into an altercation at a New Orleans night club, during which C-Murder shot and killed the teen, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

C-Murder was sentenced to life in prison, where he remains, but he does still make music and release albums while incarcerated. He has now released the same number of albums from prison that he did before his conviction. His lawyers have been trying to get him a new trial, as two former witnesses have now recanted their testimony, but these efforts have been in vain so far.

You may not know the name Big Lurch, an up-and-coming rapper in the early 2000s. His first album, The Puppet Master, was garnering pre-release buzz, and he was starting to build a name as a talented horrorcore rapper, with lyrics about grisly murders and cannibalism. At six-foot-seven, Lurch was an intimidating presence and even named himself after the Addams Family's butler.

In April 2002, though, everything changed. Big Lurch was accused of gruesomely killing his roommate, Tynisha Ysais, while high on PCP. Police found Ysais with her chest split open and bite marks on her face and lungs. While high, Lurch had apparently become convinced the devil lived in his roommate's stomach and had attempted to remove the demonic presence by killing and cannibalizing parts of Ysais. Lurch himself was found outside, in the middle of the street, naked and bloody, staring at the sky. He was in an induced coma for about two weeks, and when he finally awoke, he found out what he'd done. Lurch had no memory of the events at all, according to iHeartRadio.

Big Lurch was given two life sentences, and he remains in prison today. The owner of his record label, who also worked as his lawyer, renamed Lurch's one and only album It's All Bad, and it was finally released just a few months after his conviction.

You might be forgiven for never hearing of Bobby Beausoleil. Very few people knew of him or his music in the 1960s. A talented guitarist, Beausoleil was a bit of a troublemaker in his youth, and gravitated toward the hippie movement of Southern California as an adult. He played with several L.A. musicians as a guitarist and was beginning to make a name for himself when he met a fellow young musician named Charles Manson.

After playing with Manson a few times, and even appearing on Manson's one and only studio album, they became closer and Beausoleil eventually joined Manson's "family". Afterward, Manson convinced Beausoleil to kill Gary Hinman, who Manson believed owed the family money. Beausoleil did as he was told, and after Manson and the rest of the family were caught and imprisoned, Beausoleil went away, too, and was sentenced to death, according to Vice.

After a few years, Beausoleil's sentence was instead commuted to life in prison, and he is still incarcerated today. But since his conviction, Beausoleil has continued making music and art, and his work has actually become quite popular since. Beausoleil has released multiple albums during his prison stay, and even wrote and performed the score to a Kenneth Anger film, Lucifer Rising. He's also worked on initiatives to improve prison music programs, and has helped his fellow inmates start several bands.

Bertrand Cantat, frontman for rock band Noir Désir, was a major figure in French music in the 90s. Think of a band like Nirvana, and Noir Désir was that for French rock music. The band sold millions of copies and even found success internationally. Cantat became an icon in French music.

But in 2003, while visiting Lithuania, Cantat got into a fight with his mistress, Marie Trintignant, according to the New York Times. While Cantat claimed he slapped her "four times" and then put her to bed, medical examiners quickly found Trintignant had actually been struck over a dozen times. Trintignant went into a coma and later died from the assault. Cantat was charged in Lithuanian courts with murder and was found guilty. However, he was only given a sentence of eight years and allowed to serve it in France. Then he only served half of his sentence before being released in 2007.

Cantat's treatment and light sentencing angered women's groups in France. After release, he went right back to playing in Noir Désir. Cantat's wife, Kristina Rady, stood by him during the murder charge and his imprisonment. However, in 2010, she committed suicide. During that investigation, police uncovered evidence Cantat was abusive to Rady, but ended up not pressing charges, according to the BBC. Cantat remains free.

If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline​ at​ 1-800-273-TALK (8255)​.

A session drummer in the 1960s and 1970s, Jim Gordon played with just about every major rock artist out there, including George Harrison, The Beach Boys, and Eric Clapton, with whom he was a member of Derek and the Dominos. Gordon even received a co-writing credit for Clapton's infamous unrequited love song "Layla" for the piano melody that serves as the song's coda. Gordon became one of the most respected and sought-after drummers in rock.

But, tragically, Gordon was struggling with something even he didn't understand. He had undiagnosed schizophrenia, but he'd managed to keep the symptoms at bay for most of his life, only showing occasional bouts with the illness where he'd display self-destructive behavior. Then on June 3, 1983, a voice in his head told him to kill his 72-year-old mother, according to Ultimate Classic Rock. Gordon murdered his mother, and in a 1994 interview, described it as being "like a dream" and saying while he remembered the act, it felt like he was watching it from afar.

Gordon was sentenced to life in a psychiatric hospital. He's been eligible for parole several times since, but doctors have continuously argued he's a danger to himself and others, especially if he doesn't take medication, something they had noted he often resisted taking.