How Musicians Die
The passing of George Michael this week reminded many of the seemingly short life expectancy of musicians (and performers in general). In fact, as a study found, while blues, jazz, and country singers typically live as long as the average American; rock, techno, punk, metal, rap and hip hop stars die significantly sooner.
“I hope I die before I get old,” The Who’s Roger Daltrey sang in “My Generation” in 1965. This didn’t happen for Daltrey, who is now a ripe 71, but it did to many other musicians.
Dianna Theadora Kenny, a professor of psychology and music at the University of Sydney, has conducted a statistical study of premature death among musicians.
As The Washington Post notes, she found that musicians from older genres – including blues, jazz, country and gospel – have similar lifespans to American people their own age. The life expectancy for R&B musicians is slightly lower, while the life expectancy for newer genres like rock, techno, punk, metal, rap and hip hop is significantly shorter.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Kenny finds that accidents – including car crashes and drug overdoses – are a huge cause of premature death for musicians, accounting for almost 20 percent of all deaths across genres. But accidents are much more likely to kill rock, metal and punk musicians. Punk and metal musicians also appear susceptible to suicide, while gospel musicians had the lowest suicide rate of all genres.
* * *
The bottom line is, stay away from rappers and hip hop stars and make sure your favorite blues singer eats well and exercises.
Source:
Anyone can join.
Anyone can contribute.
Anyone can become informed about their world.
"United We Stand" Click Here To Create Your Personal Citizen Journalist Account Today, Be Sure To Invite Your Friends.
Please Help Support BeforeitsNews by trying our Natural Health Products below!
Order by Phone at 888-809-8385 or online at https://mitocopper.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST
Order by Phone at 866-388-7003 or online at https://www.herbanomic.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST
Order by Phone at 866-388-7003 or online at https://www.herbanomics.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST
Humic & Fulvic Trace Minerals Complex - Nature's most important supplement! Vivid Dreams again!
HNEX HydroNano EXtracellular Water - Improve immune system health and reduce inflammation.
Ultimate Clinical Potency Curcumin - Natural pain relief, reduce inflammation and so much more.
MitoCopper - Bioavailable Copper destroys pathogens and gives you more energy. (See Blood Video)
Oxy Powder - Natural Colon Cleanser! Cleans out toxic buildup with oxygen!
Nascent Iodine - Promotes detoxification, mental focus and thyroid health.
Smart Meter Cover - Reduces Smart Meter radiation by 96%! (See Video).
| Online: | |
| Visits: | 1,605,814,678 |
| Stories: | 8,138,353 |
Whistler Blowers, Insiders
This article simply perpetuates stereotypes and has little to do with reality.
The following does not include “rap” or “hiphop” and other forms of “entertainment” which require little music knowledge or skill. This is about real musicians.
The article ignores numerous facts, which are:
1) Not all musicians are rich and famous. The fact is , an overwhelming majority of musicians are only known locally or regionally.
2) Most musicians tend to be intellectuals to greater and lesser degrees, and prefer to keep their minds clear by avoiding substance abuse. Musicians are NOT like the sports world, which is the true segment of society where drug abuse is rampant.
3) The most widely abused drug in music communities is tobacco, followed by alcohol.
4) Musicians who die young normally do so because they lead sedentary lives and eat fake food rather than ingesting nutrition.
I am getting old, and average about 3 funerals every 2 years for musicians I know. Most seem to be dying in their 50s. Most are overweight and suffer from diseases and illness more akin to poor diet and lack of exercise.
5) Famous musicians who have drug problems have them because being an entertainer and having to get on stage in front of either cameras or large audiences require that you not be in pain. Which means that they seek relief from pain, which normally comes in the form of a pill provided to them from the medical industry.
Twice I have been faced with the likelihood I was going to have to go on tour, and both times I told my wife that I would, when the tour was complete, need to come home and detox. Because I suffer from chronic pain that I can deal with without drugs on a daily basis, EXCEPT in a situation of constant travel, sleeping in a different situation every night ( for many with pain, sleeping in awkward positions that have to be self accommodated is typical) and of course the stress of having to choose between trying to perform in pain or not in pain, typically leads to depending on doctors and pills to make it through the day.
The sad reality that is far less “glamorous” than the brooding musician drug addict stereotype, is that most musicians who die young do so because they perform at night and prepare for their night work during the day.
Which means they are sedentary during the day and get little exercise, being as listening to and learning songs is not very physically demanding.
They work pretty much afternoon shift hours, getting off work between 10 PM and 2 AM, and the first thing they do is find the nearest fake food drive through that is open.
I work with a couple of guys now, we are a locally popular act. They are both much younger than me, and both, after gigs, head for the nearest burger drive though after we play.
Fortunately at least both are involved in things that keep them physically active and neither of them overweight, which is not typical of musicians.
I constantly warn them of the pitfalls of eating like they do, and that they should consider that one day they will be my age and faced with the ills that come from a life of such indulgence.
The lifestlye of being a musician is far more dangerous because of being sedentary and not having a good diet than because of the few who resort to extreme drug abuse .
I find the stereotype of musicians and drugs to be a horribly dangerous one to perpetuate, because I have seen young guys who think they need to be either heroin, alcohol, and/or tobacco junkies in order to have an “image” of being creative.
Few of them last in music communities.
Some can, and many who have become famous were able to ( many, not so much). But the ones that cannot far outnumber those who can.
The reality is most bands will not tolerate a drug abuser long, most agents and managers certainly don’t tolerate them, and most often drug abusers cannot function on a level required to live a musicians life.
The same applies to venue owners, who want the entertainment they hire to make them money.
And agents and managers do not want musicians who are going to cost them their hard earned reputations.
Young musicians who try to live the “image” of the brooding drug addict don’t normally last long playing music. Many typically never make it out of the garage.
The fact that the gossipy evil media doesn’t focus on all the famous musicians who are not indulging in dangerous lifestyles, because that simply doesn’t sell commercials, is quite dangerous because it gives young musicians a very false reality of what being a professional musician is all about.