I'd go with Bix Beiderbecke.

I'd go with drummer Jim Gordon although he had a multitude of problems not the least of them being killing his mum cuz voices in his head told him to. Now he sits in a prison cell which he rarely leaves, rarely if ever bathes, and spends his time making sculpture out of prison food.

Jaco Pastorius deserves a mention. Like Gordon, though, he had other problems such as manic depression which he couldn't take his medication for because he couldn't play bass while he was on it.

Janis Joplin is another. while a smack OD officially killed her, it was really more years and years of slamming down Southern Comfort, tequila, vodka, etc.

"When I first read about the evils of drink, I immediately gave up reading." --Henny Youngman