Cotye, for what it's worth, Shannon Hoon from Blind Melon died from an overdose long before the Paula/Michael relationship.
Paula Yates was in the middle of an ugly divorce with Bob Geldoff. They had several children together.
Apparently Bob Geldoff was making it very hard for her to see the kids, and it caused lots of stress between Paula and Michael, even after the birth of their daughter Heavenly Tiger Lily (what's in a name, anyway?

) Anyway, it was reported that Michael Hutchence was heard yelling "she's not your wife anymore!" and other terms of similar distressing statements. He was having a fight over the phone with Bob Geldoff.
High levels of narcotics were also found in Michael's blood.
It was reported that the stress of Paula's custody battle, and an ongoing battle with depression led him to commit suicide.
Paula Yates died a year or two ago, but I never found out why, probably an overdose.