Evan Dando, the frontman of the Lemonheads, has spoken out about persistent death rumours in a new interview. The singer, whose autobiography 'Rumours of My Demise' details his rise to fame and subsequent struggles, dismissed the claims as unfounded.
Dando's book opens with him living in a trailer on Martha's Vineyard in 2021, battling a severe drug addiction. He describes a $200-a-day habit and a diet of cigarettes and cheeseburgers, with his teeth falling out due to heroin, cocaine and amphetamine use. The memoir recounts his brief burst of fame in the early 1990s with albums like 'It's a Shame About Ray' and 'Come on Feel the Lemonheads', as well as a hit cover of Simon and Garfunkel's 'Mrs Robinson'.
However, Dando's mainstream success was short-lived, sabotaged by hard drugs and erratic behaviour. The book details numerous public humiliations, including a gig designed to impress investors that collapsed due to a cocktail of heroin and cocaine, and missing the Lemonheads' Glastonbury slot because he was holed up in a hotel doing heroin. When he eventually performed, the crowd threw bottles and booed him offstage.
Dando also addresses his privileged upbringing, noting that his parents were wealthy and he attended a liberal private school. He worked as a child model and formed the Lemonheads as a teenager, achieving international success. Despite his discomfort with celebrity, Dando admits he simply enjoyed taking drugs from age 14, and saw no reason to stop when he became famous.
In the interview, Dando directly confronts the death rumours that have circulated for years, stating they are completely false. He remains active in music, though his career has never regained its early 1990s heights.
