Nico blue hoon band of brothers

Plenty has been written about the tragic death of Blind Melon’s Shannon Hoon, who died from a cocaine overdose in October 1995 at the age of 28.

But stories have been comparatively few about Hoon the man, not the addict, and the people he left behind.

After a year, the four surviving members of Blind Melon are now speaking about the friend they remember as “a tyrant and an angel” - the erratic, explosive, creative, compassionate, manipulative personality Shannon Hoon was from day to day.

They’ve released “Nico,” a collection of the last remaining musical vestiges of Blind Melon, in Hoon’s memory.

It’s named for his infant daughter, Nico Blue.

“Nico” buries the name and the entity Blind Melon along with Hoon; the four remaining members are deciding on a new singer and a new name and have decided not to play Hoon’s songs again.

Hoon