Music fans were still reeling over the suicide of Kurt Cobain the previous year, but eerily enough, 1995 had its own wake of artists dying by their own hands -- some in rather mysterious circumstances.
In March, Helloween drummer Ingo Schwichtenburg jumped in front of a subway train. A month earlier, former Iron Butterfly bassist Philip Taylor Kramer made a frantic call from LAX airport to police, claiming he was going to kill himself. He disappeared that day; his remains were found four years later.
Then there was Welsh rocker Richey Edwards, who went missing on February 1 and has not been seen since. Only circumstantial evidence suggests Edwards may have taken his own life; regardless, he was "presumed dead" in 2008.
In spite of this morbid trend among rock stars, Guitar World maintained optimism. The magazine celebrated its 15th anniversary in 1995 and hosted a plethora of great cover artists throughout the year, including Neil Young, AC/DC and -- after an unusual absence -- Eddie Van Halen.
Check out the gallery below to see who else appeared front and center in '95. And remember: stay positive!
