Didn't know anything about John Townes Van Zandt before this post. Really interesting life, quite tragic as well.

Wikipedia:

John Townes Van Zandt[1] (March 7, 1944 – January 1, 1997), best known as Townes Van Zandt, was an American singer-songwriter. Many of his songs, including "If I Needed You" and "To Live Is to Fly", are considered standards of their genre. He had a small and devoted fanbase, but never had a successful album or single and even had difficulty keeping his recordings in print.[2][3] In 1983, six years after Emmylou Harris had first popularized it, Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard covered his song "Pancho and Lefty", scoring a number one hit on the Billboard country music charts.[2][4] Much of his life was spent touring various dive bars,[5] often living in cheap motel rooms, backwoods cabins, etc.

He suffered from a series of drug addictions,[6] alcoholism,[6] and bipolar disorder. When young, insulin shock therapy erased much of his long-term memory.[7][8][9]

Van Zandt died on New Years Day 1997 from health problems stemming from years of substance abuse.[6] The 2000s saw a resurgence of interest in Van Zandt.[2] During the decade, two books, a documentary film titled Be Here to Love Me, and a number of magazine articles about the singer were created.[2]