Keith Moon's Legendary 21st Birthday Bash: Cake-Throwing Chaos and Car-in-the-Pool Drama
Keith Moon's 21st birthday celebration in 1967 turned into a wild party that involved a memorable act of rowdiness. After a show in Flint, Michigan, Moon started drinking early in the day and had no memory of the performance. The party at the Holiday Inn, where the band was staying, escalated when Moon threw a five-tier birthday cake at the crowd, covering everyone in marzipan and icing sugar. Moon, dressed only in his underwear, then took off and ended up driving a brand new Lincoln Continental into the hotel swimming pool. Despite the chaos, Moon remained calm and managed to escape the car safely. Some witnesses remember the cake-throwing but not the car incident, while others recall a different version of events involving cake fights in the dining room. Moon's bandmate Pete Townshend and others have disputed the car-in-the-pool story, but Moon's own account includes a dramatic escape from the sheriff and a visit to the dentist to fix a knocked-out tooth. The night ended with Moon in jail and a hefty bill for damages, but he left Flint with a new false tooth and a memorable story to tell.