Ian Curtis was born in Old Trafford, Manchester, at the Memorial
Hospital. He grew up listening to The Who and The Rolling Stones, and
other heroes of his teenage years included
David Bowie,
Jim Morrison,
Janis Joplin,
Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, and
James Dean. He especially liked
musicians whose lyrics spoke of death, or those who had died at their
peak. He attended the King's School in Macclesfield, where he took his
first overdose with a friend. During their customary "social services"
hours on Wednesdays, they would visit the homes of elderly pensioners,
and would usually take drugs out of their medicine cabinets. With
friend Oliver Cleaver, Ian took an accidental overdose of
chlorpromazine hydrochloride, brand name Largactil, which was used to
treat schizophrenia. Both had their stomachs pumped, and were kept from
being expelled when Oliver said he had been trying to kill himself.
Ian met his future wife Deborah in 1972. After he quit school and his
family moved to New Moston, Manchester, Ian stopped experimenting with
drugs. He and Deborah were married on August 23, 1975. During several
moves from different houses, Ian and Deborah spent short periods of
time living in his grandparents' basement. On 20 July 1976, Ian saw the
Sex Pistols play at the Manchester Lesser Free Trade Hall. He had
missed their first show, but was inspired just as much by the second.
Always having been a music fan, Ian felt driven to join a band. After
moving back to Macclesfield, Ian found his place in the band Joy
Division, then called Warsaw. The band consisted of
Bernard Sumner on guitar,
Peter Hook on bass, and Stephen Morris on
drums. During the years of 1977-1980, the band took off and became a
part of Tony Wilson's label,
Factory records. They released one EP, "An Ideal for Living," in
January 1977, and two official albums: "Unknown Pleasures" in June
1979, and "Closer," released posthumously in July 1980. Ian first
discovered that he suffered from epilepsy in December 1978, while his
wife was pregnant with their daughter Natalie. The pills he took to
help his epilepsy are believed by many to be the cause of Ian's intense
depression from that point up until his death. Another major
contributing factor was Ian's ongoing affair with a woman named Annik
Honore, who he first met in late 1979. With a wife and daughter at
home, Ian usually saw Annik at Joy Division gigs and on their tours,
where wives were not allowed. On April 7, 1980, Ian took an overdose of
Phenobarbitone, which he announced to his wife. She rushed him to the
hospital. He had his stomach pumped, and was pronounced not suicidal.
The day following his suicide attempt, he performed with Joy Division
at Derby Hall, Bury. Ian had only sung two songs when a riot broke out.
Tony Wilson found Ian crying upstairs, and to comfort him, reminded him
about the Lou Reed gig at the Free Trade Hall where there had also been
a bottle-throwing riot. The last Joy Division performance was May 2, at
Birmingham University. Ian spent the last few months of his life moving
back and forth between other people's houses, rarely staying at home.
When he did return home, it was to watch the film
Stroszek (1977), by one of his heroes,
Werner Herzog. He had been living with his
parents at the time, and wouldn't want to upset them by watching such a
dark film. He wrote a letter to his wife Deborah, which spoke of the
troubles in his life, and the love he felt for her and Natalie. He did
write that he wished he was dead, but did not speak of any intentions
to kill himself. After this, he is believed to have taken photographs
of his daughter and wife down to look at, and to have listened to
Iggy Pop's "The Idiot." He was discovered in
the morning by his wife, Deborah, having committed suicide by hanging.
The date of his death was May 18, 1980.
