Ummmm not medically...but her brother had an idea: "As a medical examiner works to determine Tawny Kitaen's cause of death following her passing in early May at the age of 59, the actress's brother, Jordan Kitaen, believes he knows what his sister died of. Jordan spoke to TMZ about his sister's passing this week, revealing that his sister was in a good place prior to her passing and telling the outlet that he believes Kitaen died of a broken heart. According to Jordan, Kitaen’s system could not handle the devastation she experienced following the death of their father, who passed away on April 12 following a long battle with skin cancer. Jordan said the Bachelor Party star, who was the oldest child, had an "uncanny connection" with her father and was devastated by his death. TMZ reported that Jordan told the outlet he "believes the death was too much for Tawny's system to handle, especially because their dad's funeral was just days away when she died.""
Her cause of death has finally been released. Looks like opioids were in her system and a contributing factor. Tawny Kitaen Died From Heart Disease with Opioids a Contributing Factor
I always liked Tawny. First I've heard of her passing. Beyond her videos and other work I remember seeing her on VH-1's Surreal Life around 2006. I seem to recall her being a hot mess. sad
Dilated Cardiomyopathy also comes from years of alcohol and/or cocaine abuse. I imagine A LOT of "stars" from the Go-Go cocaine-fueled 80's are gonna go down this same road in the next few years. I believe this is also what did in Robert Palmer and George Michael.
So now it looks like it was either opioids or a broken heart. I guess they'll have to do more research to decide.
Robert Palmer died of a heart attack brought on by his heavy smoking habit as well hypertension(high blood pressure) that he had been diagnosed with the year prior. He was never a drug addict.
Belinda Carlisle wrote in her memoir that one time Palmer came bounding backstage hungrily/aggressively looking for coke, because he heard The Go Go's always had cocaine with them. She opened for him during many 1986 tour dates, so perhaps that's where that story comes from, and Carlisle self-admitted (in the book) that she was a notorious cocaine abuser up until the early 2000's. Sounds pretty par-for-the-course for 1980's musicians, but Palmer was certainly no choir boy.
Never said he didn't dabble, but he wasn't a long term addict like most of them. Cigarettes and alcohol were his long term drugs of choice.
