re: Heroin fueled great music? Another earlier thread got me thinking.

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I'd say that probably half of Aerosmith's early works would qualify in this category if we are talking about music written while under heroin influence.

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Closer to all - if you count everything before the comeback, when they were "Future Villain Band".

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No way to know how much of Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin's work was "enhanced".

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So much controversy surrounds Hendrix - no question he was a substance abuser, but many allege that he was not a regular heroin user or the heroin use came very late, more or less after the creative period and prior to his death. Anecdotally, Steve Miller claims that Hendrix was a heroin junkie and being "run by the Mafia" the last time he saw him.

Just so we're clear, Hendrix did not overdose on heroin - he aspirated and asphyxiated because of acute barbiturate poisoning. He reportedly took 9 Vesparax tablets shortly before his death.

His blood, post-mortem, had concentrations of barbiturates (consistent with Vesparax), amphetamine and alcohol. NO OPIATES.

Joplin was a polysubstance abuser, as well. More of a speed freak early on - she ultimately developed a $200 a day heroin habit (back when $200 was a lot of money). Her cause of death was heroin overdose (possibly compounded by alcohol).

Again, not sure how much of her creative period was "fueled" by heroin, but she fits the profile much better than Jimi - Jimi was a notorious hallucinogenic user.