What do the gods of rock ‘n’ roll do when they finally leave the stage? The ’70s provided us a decade of extravagant behavior, mythic riffs, and larger-than-life personalities that were immortal. But time has the tendency to redefine even the most inviolable icons.
From chaotic hotel room pranks to sobering health battles, these stars lived louder than most could dream and their stories didn’t end when the amps went quiet. Some found redemption, others met tragic ends, and a few are still defying the odds, strutting under the spotlight well into their 80s.
Here’s a look at seven unforgettable figures from rock’s most decadent decade, and the surprising, heartbreaking, or inspiring paths they took after the curtain fell on their wildest years.
1. Ozzy Osbourne: From Bat-Biting Mayhem to a Triumphant Farewell
He came to be called the “Prince of Darkness,” and his early life was a haze of depravity psychedelics for breakfast, substances delivered by private jet, and that infamous onstage incident with a bat. Black Sabbath eventually kicked him out in 1979, but the mayhem wasn’t done yet. Fatherhood and his marriage to Sharon Osbourne toned down his public persona, especially through MTV’s The Osbournes, but in private his health problems mounted.
A near-fatal quad bike accident in 2003 brought permanent damage, and a fall in 2019 further weakened his body. Parkinson’s disease and nerve damage could not stop him assembling a final show of all his own, namely Back to the Beginning in July 2025, before his death weeks later aged 76. Son Jack described it “a living wake” and the ultimate full stop for a man whose survival all his life had been improbable.
2. Keith Richards: The Miracle Still Standing
Keith Richards’ status as rock’s all-time survivor is richly deserved. Tales from the ’70s involve reportedly keeping mementos of his father in an unconventional way and going for nine days without sleep. All the while, fafter decades of heavy substance use and wild living, he’s still out touring the Rolling Stones at 81.
In Life, his memoir, Richards confessed to being “meticulous” in his intake, shunning the greed that compels so many to overdose. He gave up heroin in 1978, cocaine in 2006, and cigarettes in 2019 but continues to drink. “I’m trying to savor being straight. It’s a strange experience for me,” he said to The Telegraph in 2023. His enduring sparkle defies experts but perhaps his own conviction that “my body is my temple” is the reason he’s still playing his way through the repertoire on stage while so many contemporaries are long gone.
3. John Bonham: The Reluctant Wild Man
Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham was a powerhouse drummer whose offstage pranks like riding a motorcycle through hotel lobbies became legend. Yet friends described him as a homebody who preferred farm life in Worcestershire to endless touring. Fame brought fast cars and harder drinking, and by 1980, his health and mood were in decline.
During tour rehearsals in the States, Bonham consumed an excessive amount of alcohol and tragically passed away in his sleep when he was only 32. Bandmate John Paul Jones reflected later, “We’d high hopes it was all coming right but he died because of an accident.” Zeppelin disbanded rather than replace him, cementing his legend as a drummer whose loss couldn’t be replaced.
4. Steven Tyler: Toxic Twin’s Bittersweet Farewell
Their working together earned the duo the nickname “Toxic Twins” because the drug binges that often occurred between them sometimes meant that they forgot their own songs. Tyler has since admitted, “We felt that the road to wisdom was to live by excess but it doesn’t work in the long run.”
In 1988, the band staged an intervention that got him sober and thereby preserved him and Aerosmith. A 2023 vocal cord injury brought their concert career to a close after years of touring. It is a sad farewell announcement that characterized retiring as “heartbreaking and difficult” but that they were “grateful for five decades of dedication by their amazing fans.” Queen’s Brian May provided the final word: “Steve Tyler is one of the all-time great vocalists and frontmen the great work of Aerosmith will endure.”
5. Keith Moon: The Loon Who Wanted to Slow Down
The Who’s Keith Moon was famous for blowing up drum kits, destroying hotel rooms, and once even driving a car into a pool. But by 1978, his body wasn’t faring so well. Given a script for Hemimerid to curb his imbibing, Moon was in rehabilitation.
On 7 September 1978, after a night out with Paul McCartney and a night in alone by himself, Moon overdosed fatally on the sedative. He was 32. His friends were shocked he’d been in better shape but the danger of the drug wasn’t yet realized. At his funeral, Roger Daltrey told the mourners that he half-expected the Moon to leap from the coffin in a prank. This time it wasn’t a laughing matter.
6. Iggy Pop: Punk’s Godfather Discovers His Zen
Iggy Pop’s ’70s performances were raw chaos stage diving, self-injury, and even inciting riots. Against all odds, he outlived many peers, crediting sobriety and a love of qigong for his longevity. “Don’t lose yourself,” he told Rolling Stone. “If you take enough dope, you lose your body, your mind or your life.”
Now 78, Iggy continues to perform but keeps a low profile in Miami, where he observes the Chinese mind-body art every day. His later-life triumph and health are testament that the most self-destructive iconoclasts are able to redefine their conclusions.
7. Mick Jagger: The Relentless Frontman
Mick Jagger’s early life in the Rolling Stones was a blur of LSD-infused parties and tax-exile decadence. But by the end of the ’70s, he’d sobered up, thanks to partner Jerry Hall for keeping him away from substances. Now aged 82, he’s in top shape thanks to a strenuous program of yoga, bike riding, dance, and a macrobiotic diet. Jagger exercises all year long, sometimes for six weeks of continuous exercise before a tour. “I don’t like it very much,” he said in a recent interview with The Sunday Times, “but it has to be done.”
His stage vitality is unbeatable and demonstrates that exercise keeps even the most feral rock star active like, well, Jagger. The ’70s rock world was a furnace of excess, creativity, and reinvention. Some stars flared brightly but briefly, some learned how to live with their demons, and a few are here today to defy time and expectation. Their tales remind us that behind the myths are human beings all imperfect, all brilliant, all indelible with legacies that far outlast the final encore.
