May 25, 1996. Bradley Nowell, singer/guitarist for Sublime dies of a heroine overdose.
While no one knows exactly what happened to Nowell during those final moments in a San Francisco hotel room, it’s believed that he couldn’t sleep after a long night of partying. He had reportedly tried to convince his longtime friends and bandmates, bassist Eric Wilson and drummer Bud Gaugh, to go down to the beach with him and watch the sun rise over the breaking waves. But they were too tired and hungover, so Nowell took Lou Dog, his beloved Dalmatian, and went on his own. At some point after he returned to his hotel room, Nowell must have shot up. Gaugh, who had used the same stash hours earlier, eventually awoke and found the singer laying with green film on his lips and Lou whimpering at his feet. It’s presumed Nowell had already been dead for some time.