Alley 61

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9 Curzon Place, Mayfair — Keith Moon Death

9 Curzon Pl, Mayfair
London, England, UK

51.5067° N · -0.1512° W

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What happened here?

9 Curzon Place in Mayfair is the address at which Keith Moon, the drummer of the Who, died on 7 September 1978. Moon had been attending a party for Buddy Holly Week hosted by Paul McCartney on the previous evening and returned to the flat — which belonged to his girlfriend Annette Walter-Lax — in the early hours. He died later that morning from an overdose of Heminevrin, a medication prescribed to treat his alcohol withdrawal. He was 32 years old. Coincidentally, the flat had also been the home of singer Cass Elliot of the Mamas and the Papas, who died there in 1974 — a fact that drew significant media attention at the time of Moon's death.

Moon was one of the most extraordinary drummers in rock history — technically brilliant, physically explosive, and entirely unconcerned with conventional restraint either behind the kit or in his personal life. His playing with the Who on recordings including Tommy, Live at Leeds, Who's Next, and Quadrophenia is regarded as a definitive statement of what a rock drummer could be. His offstage behaviour — the hotel room demolitions, the cars in swimming pools, the relentless self-destructive excess — became the template for a certain kind of rock and roll mythology.

The flat at 9 Curzon Place is a private residence and is not specially marked as a heritage site, though its double association with Cass Elliot and Keith Moon is well documented. Mayfair is a short walk from Hyde Park and the central London tourist district. There is no formal memorial at the location.

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