Founding Free guitarist Paul Kossoff died of a drug related heart attack on a flight from Los Angeles to New York City on March 19, 1976. Kossoff was distraught at the band’s breakup and fell heavily into drug and alcohol abuse. While his former Free co-founders were moving on to enjoy massive success in Bad Company, Paul continued on playing small tours with his own band, Black Street Crawler. The touring life was taking its toll on Kossoff, who had to be revived after his heart had allegedly stopped for a full half-hour the previous August. On the fatal flight, Kossoff first slipped into a drug induced coma and then suffered heart failure. Paul’s father, moved by his untimely death at just 25 years old, became a champion for anti-drug campaigns throughout the 1970s.