On July 12, 1996, Smashing Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlain and keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin were sharing a room at the Regency Hotel on Park Ave. They were also sharing heroin- the Pumpkins had recently done an Asian tour recently the readily available heroin in Thailand had revived addiction in both of them.
Shortly before midnight on July 11th, both of the musicians took some heroin. A couple of hours later, Chamberlain woke up to find Melvoin unconscious and was unable to revive him. When the paramedics, they pronounced Melvoin DOA from an overdose.
Melvoin was a multi-instrumental talent, a graduate of Julliard who played drums in the Dickies and keyboards for Prince and the Smashing Pumpkins.
