Study Says Rock Singers Are More Likely to Die Prematurely

A recent study of more than 1,000 mainly North American and British artists has showed that the rock stars are really more likely than “common” people to die before reaching old age. It seems that the common belief that these people’s lifestyles lead them to quick deaths is right.
The study spans from Elvis Presley’s case to the modern days and has found that the artists are two to three times more likely to die prematurely than the general “common” population.
Between 1956 and 2005 there were 100 deaths among the 1,064 music artists that have been examined by the researchers from the Centre for Public Health at Liverpool John Moores University.
The most famous such artists that died prematurely included Elvis Presley, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, T Rex’ star Marc Bolan, Kurt Cobain and others. It is obvious that more than a quarter of the deaths were related to alcohol or drugs abuse or the both of the troubling substances.
“The paper clearly describes a population of rock and pop stars who are at a disproportionate risk of alcohol and drug related deaths.” – has said Mark Bellis, who is the lead author of the recent study.
The researcher has also said that after these findings people should question about the suitability of using rock stars for transmitting public health messages during anti-alcohol or anti-drug campaigns. It is in fact quite ironical that they are currently used for such campaigns, although their own lifestyles are so dangerous.
“In the music industry, factors such as stress, changes from popularity to obscurity, and exposure to environments where alcohol and drugs are easily available, can all contribute to substance use as well as other self-destructive behaviors.” – has also added Mark Bellis.

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