`Blind Melon' Singer Shannon Hoon Found Dead In Bus In New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS - Shannon Hoon, 28, whose smooth, high-pitched vocals took the alternative rock group Blind Melon to the top of the charts, died yesterday.

Hoon died on his tour bus about 1:30 p.m. His sound manager apparently couldn't wake him and called police, said New Orleans Police Sgt. Marlon DeFillo. There was no sign of trauma, DeFillo said, and the cause of death remains unclassified pending an autopsy.

Blind Melon was in New Orleans to play at the famed Tipitina's music club.

Blind Melon went to the top of the charts in 1993 with the song "No Rain" off their self-titled debut album, which was recorded at London Bridge Studios in Seattle. The group's sound was sprinkled with such influences as the Allman Brothers and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and mixed some hard and alternative rock.

Hoon, born Richard Shannon Hoon in Lafayette, Ind., experienced both personal and profession turmoil as his band gained fame.

In October 1993, Hoon faced nudity and indecent exposure charges after he stripped and urinated onstage during a concert in Vancouver, B.C. He was also charged for attacking a security guard during the taping of the American Music Awards in 1994. Hoon also was arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct in New Orleans during the recording of "Soup."

In an interview last month with The Associated Press, Hoon said he began going through a period of intense self-evaluation after learning his girlfriend was pregnant.

Hoon told The Indianapolis Star last month he had straightened himself out and wanted to get a motor home to tour with his girlfriend Lisa and their 4-month-old daughter Nika Blue. The three lived together in Lafayette. He would not give his girlfriend's last name.