Attention rockstar wannabees: turns out your dream job is likely to earn you a shorter lifespan. Kurt Cobain, Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin—it sure seems like stars who burn twice as bright burn half as long. And now it’s been proven statistically.
Professor Mark Bellis, a British public health researcher, compared the age-of-death of 1,064 artists from a catalogue of the 1,000 best albums of all time against a general, less rockin population, and discovered that rock ‘n’ rollers are more than *twice as likely* to die prematurely. (Of the 100 in the sample who died early, the average age was 42 in North America and 35 in Europe.) If you look specifically at the first five years of fame (based on “chart success”), that statistic skyrockets to three times as likely to receive an early death sentence.
Causes of death include accidents, overdoses, suicide, violence, cancer, and “other” (perhaps best illustrated by Spinal Tap’s string of unfortunate drummers). According to an interview in the Guardian UK, Bellis hopes the research will be a wake-up call for the rock industry, particularly since “these people hold a special position to potentially influence the behaviour of millions of young people who look up to them.”
As for the continued existence of Keith Richards, no explanation was given.
ROFL! That Keith Richard comment tagged on the end was brilliant :)
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The Keith Richards remark was brilliant, thanks for the laugh!