Photo: Redferns
It's been nearly 30 years since Blind Melon singer Shannon Hoon's untimely death, but Rogers Stevens doesn't think he'll ever get over it. During a visit to the Appetite For Distortion podcast, the guitarist emotionally recalled the first time he met Hoon, explaining how a mutual friend connected him and bassist Brad Smith with the vocalist in 1990.
“He came over and sat on the floor of this garage in West Hollywood that we were rehearsing in with his acoustic guitar and he played ‘Change’ from the first record from front to back," Stevens said, "and I said to Brad after, ‘that dude is a rock star.’ He was so good, it was clear the moment he opened his mouth. I’d never heard somebody with that tone in their voice before. It was beautiful."
“He was a friend from that moment on," he continued, fighting back tears. “I’ll never get over his death, and I think all of us who were around during that time, and knew him, won’t."
"It’s just one of those things I’ll carry to the grave," Stevens admitted. "I’m not capable of resolving that kind of loss. It’s just a hard loss. It always will be."
Hoon tragically died of a drug overdose on the band's tour bus in 1995 at the young age of 28. The song "Change" would come full circle, with the lyrics "I know we can't all stay here forever, so I want to write my words on the face of today and they'll paint it," inscribed on his grave.
Listen to Stevens' full Appetite For Distortion episode above. His story about Hoon begins around the 23-minute mark.