Today marks the 20th anniversary of Shannon Hoon’s death. Back in our November 2005 issue, we ran an article that presented images of the band shot by Danny Clinch, along with captions provided by Clinch and those who knew him well. (Clinch sat in on harmonica with the surviving members of Blind Melon during their set at Brooklyn’s 90s Fest last month.) Here are some of those selections.

Clinch is currently directing a documentary film that pulls together film footage shot by Hoon himself.

New York, 1993

“I asked a couple of times to photograph his back, and he kept saying, ‘No, it’s not done yet.’ You can see the scales aren’t colored in, and there’s another tattoo underneath it. I’d say, ‘I’ll photograph it now, and when it’s done.’ He would just say no, and one day he ended up letting me shoot it. I don’t know if it ever got finished.”— Danny Clinch

New York, 1994

“This was taken backstage at David Letterman, the day that Kurt Cobain died. Shannon was really upset, and I remember him taking it out on TV. I think he saw a lot of himself in what happened. I think it was just too close. He took it personally, even though he didn’t know Kurt. He was experiencing the same sort of stuff: You get built up, and you get torn down, and all eyes are sort of looking at you—and you’re dealing with having a drug problem.”— Christopher Thorn

New York, 1994

“Our band certainly had its problems, and when Shannon came around—because he was one of Axl and Izzy’s old buddies from Indiana—he didn’t take any shit from Axl. Because he was outside of the band, he didn’t have to deal with the day-to-day politics. So it was kind of uplifting to have him around sometimes. He was very fun and energetic, and if there was something fucked up going on with our band, when Shannon came on the tour bus, or to the video shoot, he was the equalizer.”— Duff McKagan, Guns ‘N Roses/Velvet Revolver

Philadelphia, 1994

“This was at one of the shows when they were opening for The Rolling Stones show. Christopher and Shannon are on a clothing rack, and I was sitting on a golf cart, with someone who was pulling the rack. I’m shooting the picture from the side, hanging off the golf cart. Shannon was always rambunctious and up to no good.”—Danny Clinch

New Orleans, 1995

“As cheesy as it sounds, Shannon lived on the edge. That railing he’s standing on is like a hundred years old. It was all rusty and falling apart, and he didn’t care. He stood on it anyway. I was scared for him. I said, ‘Dude, don’t,’ and he was, like, ‘Yeah, get this picture.’ I took it fast, thinking that any minute he could go flying down and hit the pavement.”—Danny Clinch

Saugerties, New York, 1994

“This is at Woodstock ’94, and I remember feeling so incredibly overwhelmed that day. Shannon gave everything to the audience that day. He would give everything to a live performance. He didn’t always sing great, but he gave everything. It was like watching some sort of exorcism. I remember he told us later that day he had dropped LSD.”— Christopher Thorn

Belgium, 1995

“This photo is really telling. He had just gotten out of rehab, and he’s just not together mentally. It’s really sad. You can tell he’s been just beaten down and he’s really having to think about how he’s living his life. We cancelled the tour shortly after. He’s really, really lost right there.”— Brad Smith