Okay, hold onto your seats for this one…a new study has come out saying that *gasp* rock stars are more likely than others to die a premature death. Yes, yes, I know many of you are shocked by this discovery.
The study was conducted by researchers at the Centre for Public Health at John Moores University in Liverpool. The researchers studied more than 1,000 artists, mostly from the North America and the United Kingdom. They discovered that there were 100 deaths among the 1,064 musicians they studied between the years of 1956 and 2005. People such as Elvis, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix (ah, both in the 27 Club!), Marc Bolan, and Kurt Cobain (another 27er) were among the 100 dead.
Now prepare yourself, here is another shocker – they came to the conclusion that a quarter of those 100 deaths were due to drug and alcohol abuse. The study was published in the Journal of Epidemical Community Health and in it, lead researcher Mark Bellis said that rock stars are at a disproportional risk of drug or alcohol deaths. He also questioned using rock stars for public service announcements against using drugs or alcohol since their own lifestyles are often so dangerous. He was not just thinking about drug and alcohol abuse, but also the stress associated with fame and potential obscurity.
The study said the first five years of fame are the riskiest. They cited such breakout stars as Jimi Hendrix, Bon Scott (of AC/DC) and Sex Pistol Sid Vicious as all dying within five years of achieving fame. The British rockers seem to have it the worst. The study said their risk of dying remains high until about 25 years into their successful career. So I guess that means Mick Jagger and David Bowie are just freaks of rock-n-roll nature.
However, in North America, the rockers are more than twice as likely to die prematurely. This includes death from heart attacks and strokes. Even those that make it past the first five years find themselves dying early. Take Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead, Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys, and Johnny Ramone of the Ramones for example. They all died in their 50s. But they were still lucky. The study shows the average age of death for North American rockers was 42 while it was 35 for UK rockers.
The study went on to say that many bands reunite for reunion tours, which may expose them to unhealthy habits once again.