Early Life
Hoon was born in Lafayette, Indiana and raised in nearby Dayton, Indiana with his half-sister, Anna, and half-brother, Tim. Hoon reportedly began using his middle name, Shannon, to avoid confusion with his father, who was also named Richard. In high school, Hoon played football, wrestled, and was a pole vaulter. Shannon's musical influences included the Grateful Dead, The Beatles, John Lennon, Bob Dylan, and Led Zeppelin, and he often expressed enthusiast towards (then) contemporary bands such as Pearl Jam (with whom Blind Melon were friends), Soundgarden, Nirvana, and Alice in Chains. Hoon graduated from McCutcheon High School in 1985. After graduation, Hoon joined a local band named Styff Kytten, which also featured guitarist Michael Kelsey. Hoon took on the role of frontman and lead singer for the band. It was around this time that Hoon wrote his first song, "Change." Hoon was also a member of the Lafayette band Mank Rage, along with David Lank and Darren Mickler, during this time.
Read more about this topic: Shannon Hoon
Famous quotes containing the words early and/or life:
“We are living now, not in the delicious intoxication induced by the early successes of science, but in a rather grisly morning-after, when it has become apparent that what triumphant science has done hitherto is to improve the means for achieving unimproved or actually deteriorated ends.”
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963)
“If, then, we would indeed restore mankind ... let us first be as simple and well as Nature ourselves, dispel the clouds which hang over our own brows, and take up a little life into our pores. Do not stay to be an overseer of the poor, but endeavor to become one of the worthies of the world.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)