Remembering Keith Moon

Keith John Moon was born August 23, 1946 somewhere in England. He was a hyperactive boy with a restless imagination and keen sense of humor.

Keith’s art teacher once said in a report: “Retarded artistically. Idiotic in other respects, and those are his good points.” His music teacher wrote that Moon “has great ability, but must guard against a tendency to show off.”

The Who!?

Moon kind of just showed up and started playing with The Who in 1964. He was never formally invited to join, so he joked that he was just filling in for the last 15 years.

Keith had a reputation for being a hard drinking wild-man that was very fond of pranks. It started with throwing TV’s out of hotel rooms, then starting fires, small fireworks and eventually led to blowing up toilets with dynamite.

Remembering Keith Moon — Keith Moon with The Who circa 1971 – Illustration By Paul King Art

In 1967, a drunken Moon started a food fight at the Holiday Inn in Flint Michigan. Cake began flying through the air. The drummer knocked out part of his front tooth. A mêlée erupted, fire extinguishers were set off, guests (and objects) thrown into the swimming pool and a piano reportedly destroyed. Keith allegedly then drove his Rolls Royce into the hotel swimming pool. The chaos ended only when police arrived with guns drawn. The Who were fined $24,000 and banned for life from all Holiday Inns.

Moon passed out behind his drum kit during the opening night of the 1973 Quadrophenia tour after ingesting horse tranquilizer and a bottle of brandy. A fill in drummer was pulled from the audience to finish the show. Moon was an incredible drummer with a very unique style.

Keith passed away September 6, 1978. “Moon, with his manic, lunatic side, and his life of excessive drinking, partying, and other indulgences, probably represented the youthful, zany side of rock & roll, as well as its self-destructive side, better than anyone else on the planet. With the death of Keith Moon, rock arguably lost its single greatest drummer.”