Keith Moon

In 1965, he started dating Kim Kerrigan whom he married on 17th March 1966. Their daughter Amanda was born on 12th July of the same year. The press did not know about this marriage until 1968. Both of them used to lead an extravagant social life and owned a number of cars but they led an unhappy married life due to his violent behaviour towards Kim. In 1973, Kim left him.

Later, he was involved in a relationship with Annette Walter-Lax, a Swedish model.

He used to take Clomethiazole, a sedative, on medical advice to alleviate his alcoholic withdrawal symptoms. He died of an overdose of this sedative at the age of 32.

Born in Wembley, Middlesex, England, Keith Mon was the son of Alfred Charles, a maintenance mechanic and Kathleen Winfred Moon, a cleaner. He was hyperactive by nature and a mediocre student.

In September 1951, he studied at the local primary school, Barham. After failure at his eleven plus examination, he took admission at Alperton Secondary Modern School.

He developed fondness towards music from a very young age. He was greatly influenced by the music of Elvis Presley. In 1958, he joined Sea Cadet Corps, a local band where he played bulge. Later he played trumpet for this band.

In 1961, he cleared the Royal Society of Arts examination in English and Science and left Alperton Secondary Modern School. After that he took admission at Harrow Technical College. During this period, he met Gerry Evans through whom he became acquainted with the band, The Escorts.

In July 1962, he performed for the first time with The Escorts. The band started getting more opportunity to perform due to his notable performance on stage. After his brief stint with this band, he joined Beachcombers.

While performing with Beachcombers, he used to attend concerts of 'The Detours’. At that time ‘The Detours’ were planning to sign a deal with Fontana Records and for this deal, this band required a new drummer.

The Detours changed their name to 'The Who' in 1964. When Moon came to know about the band’s requirement of a new drummer, he approached the band. After giving an audition, he got the opportunity to play drum for The Who.

Besides playing drum for The Who, he used to perform for The Benchcombers simultaneously. Later, he left The Benchcombers. He performed with The Who for the first time in 1962.

In January 1965, when the band’s songwriter Pete Townshend composed ‘I Can’t Explain’, he played the drum with this song. The song ‘Anyway, Anyway, Anywhere’ also features his laudable drumming.

In 1971, The Who’s album ‘Who’s Next was released. Its songs like ‘Bargain’, ‘Going Mobile’ and ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’ marks his extraordinary performance as a drummer.