Rock Stars Who Were Killed By Their Own Fans

Musicians and their fans share something of a symbiotic relationship. Rock stars receive financial support through record sales and touring and even emotional support from a fawning public. And fans get to experience the music the artists make. But sometimes, fandom can become dangerously obsessive, crossing the line into criminal behavior. Perhaps the ultimate form of this is when a fan murders a rock star for reasons that make sense only to them.

Arguably the most infamous such case happened in December 1980 when Mark David Chapman murdered one of the biggest rock stars in history, the former Beatle John Lennon, in Manhattan. The killing shocked the world, but it wasn't the only episode of its kind. Musicians from such differing genres as heavy metal and Tejano music have died at the hands of the very fans who professed to love them and the music they suddenly silenced with their bloody actions.

On the night of December 8, 1980, New York City taxi driver Richard Peterson saw a "chunky guy" walk up John Lennon as the famous ex-Beatle headed into the Dakota apartment building where he lived. "I'm looking at him through the front window of my cab," Peterson recalled in "John Lennon: Murder Without A Trial." "I'm looking at him shoot him. This guy just shot John Lennon. I thought they were making a movie, but I didn't see no lights or cameras or anything so I realized, hey, this ain't no movie." This was just one of the real-life accounts from eyewitnesses to John Lennon's murder.

Just hours earlier, Lennon's killer, Mark David Chapman, had gotten the famous musician to sign a copy of his and Yoko Ono's album "Double Fantasy." But the Beatles fan and born-again Christian had become angered by Lennon's atheism, negative comments about the Beatles, and simple jealousy. It ended in four bullets in Lennon's back and shoulder and a life sentence for Chapman.

The tragic 2004 murder of Dimebag Darrell, guitarist and founding member of the heavy metal band Pantera born Darrell Abbott, was another senseless act by a fan. Dimebag was on tour with his new band, Damageplan, after he and his brother, drummer Vinnie Paul, had left Pantera, leading to the band's breakup. While on stage in Columbus, Ohio, Nathan Gale jumped on stage and shot the guitarist in the back of the head, killing him instantly. Gale killed three other people and wounded another three during the shooting.

The murder had some eerie similarities to John Lennon's death. Both happened on December 8, and Dimebag's killer was obsessed with the guitarist's former band, as Mark David Chapman had been with the Beatles. Gale's mother later said her son was a paranoid schizophrenic, and friends said he believed Pantera had tried to "steal his identity," per NBC News. A police officer shot and killed Gale at the venue. Gale had also intended to kill Vinnie Paul, but the drummer escaped unharmed.

Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, better known simply as Selena, was considered the Queen of Tejano, a Mexican-American style of music originating in Texas. On March 31, 1995, she was shot by Yolanda Saldivar at a hotel in Corpus Christi, Texas, and died in a nearby hospital. Saldivar was a superfan and the head of Selena's fan club, and she had wheedled her way into running the Grammy-winning singer's two clothing boutiques. Saldivar had access to Selena's business accounts, and She was totally obsessed with the singer and turned her apartment into a makeshift shrine to the singer.

When Selena discovered that Saldivar had allegedly embezzled $30,000, she went to the hotel to confront her. An argument ensued and Saldivar shot the singer once in the back. An hours-long standoff with police followed before Saldivar finally gave herself up. The killer later claimed the shooting was accidental. Selena's murderer is currently serving her life sentence in a prison in Gatesville, Texas. She's up for parole in March 2025.

Christina Grimmie was a 22-year-old singer from New Jersey who'd begun to find nationwide success through her appearance on the NBC show "The Voice." But that all ended on the evening of June 10, 2016. Grimmie was at a fan meet-and-greet following a concert in Orlando, Florida. As she signed autographs, one of her fans, Kevin James Loibl, waited for his turn. When it came, Grimmie went to hug him. He pulled out a pistol and fired five times, hitting the rising star with three of the shots at close range. The singer's brother, Mark Grimmie, wrested the killer to the ground, but Loibl managed to shoot himself in the head and die by suicide.

Loibl had become obsessed with Christina Grimmie via her YouTube videos. He told coworkers he'd met the singer and even played online videogames with her, though a source close to her denied the claims to TMZ. Loibl was so obsessed with Grimmie he became a vegan to lose weight, got hair plugs, and underwent Lasik eye surgery in the hopes of the two falling in love and marrying. Instead, he ruthlessly murdered her.

In the above instances, fans who professed love for musicians ended up murdering them. Thankfully, this isn't the norm, though there are numerous cases of people who push their fandom into criminal territory and become stalkers. John Lennon had been the victim of several such prowlers before Mark David Chapman murdered him. Likewise, Lennon's former bandmate, George Harrison, and his wife, Olivia Harrison, were attacked in their home outside of London in December 1999 by a man obsessed with the Beatles. The intruder stabbed Harrison in the chest, narrowly missing a major vein. His wife suffered minor injuries.

Everyone from Lady Gaga to Eddie Vedder to Bjork have had stalkers who strayed into violent territory. In 2010, a woman sent Lady Gaga a letter in which she referenced Mark David Chapman and said she wanted to kill the singer and then die by suicide. An obsessed fan smashed their car into Vedder's front gate. And Bjork's stalker sent a package capable of spraying acid, which was intercepted by the police. These artists were lucky. They survived the twisted affections of their admirers, unlike Lennon, Dimebag Darrell, Selena, and Grimmie.

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