You would think that his anger would have died down because of his successful record sales but Kanye West is still fuming mad at MTV. He?s mad to the point of vowing to boycott the network after he felt unjustly treated at the 2007 VMAs in Vegas.
The rapper even had a diva moment at the Us Weekly Hot Hollywood party on Wednesday night. MTV attempted to film Kanye?s interview with Us but the angry Kanye swatted away at the MTV cameras, all while telling the cameraman and producer that ?I have nothing against you, just your bosses.?
The producer protested by saying that he has nothing to do with the boss and what happened but Kanye kept his hand over the camera lens during his entire interview with Us.
After three decades of hits, Madonna got nominated to be elected into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame–well deserved if you ask me! But only 5 of the 9 nominees will make it. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for Madge. I am not a fan of Madonna’s, but she worked her butt off with work and self promotion…she deserves to be there. When a person has been churning out hits after hits and albums going platinum and breaking chart records, I frankly would have liked to see her inducted at least at the beginning of this millennium. Well this should be the right time to induct her as she has announced that she will be going on a world tour as part of her 50th birthday celebrations. What are the criteria to make the ballot? Obviously they deserve it, but it seems like most acts are way past washed up when they are inducted
Hip-hop sensation Soulja Boy is back at the top of the U.S. pop charts after displacing Kanye West a week after the Stronger hit maker toppled him. Soulja Boy’s Crank That (Soulja Boy) spent two weeks at number one earlier this month but fell to two last week as West scored a brief chart double by claiming top spots on the Billboard album and singles charts. I said it time and again and please allow me the liberty to once again push my point that I always love it when a no-namer comes and pulls the rug under the feet of a well established super well known singer who has been crowned as a best selling singer time over time. That?s what pumps me up, get the adrelin following and make you that there is a time when the young guns find the ammunition and the artillery to fire and displace a top notch singer or anyone in any field. I do not why I am connecting so much to his success but then that?s what dreams are made of, you think if he can then so can I!
Way to go man, bust up these big ass losers.
If you ask a female singer, mainly those is the pop scene, who their influences are, there?s a huge chance that majority of the answers would boil down to Madonna.
British pop princess Natasha Bedingfield proves just that as she has just done a cover of Madonna?s ?Ray of Light?. And let me just say, it?s amazing! What makes it so amazing is that it?s very different from the original. It has piano accompaniment and heavy guitars with Natasha?s low mellow voice that?s almost like Regina Spektor.
But Madonna isn?t only for the ladies as former Savage Garden singer Darren Hayes also did a cover of the song. He also went with the guitar sound but his voice stuck true to the original. Yes, even the falsetto.
You can?t deny that the Smashing Pumpkins have made a successful revival of the band after disbanding. You also can?t deny that the band delivers one killer performance after the other. But does it have to be literal?
A fan has reportedly died at a Smashing Pumpkins concert in Vancouver on Monday night. The exact cause of death is still unknown and investigations are still going on. It doesn?t look like it?s murder, otherwise, the cause of death would already be known. Maybe it?s an overdose or something. Either way, it?s sad news.
If you want to look at it from a different perspective, a music-lover died surrounded by what he loves.
Singer Melissa Etheridge beat a bout of breast cancer and says she used that experience as the inspiration to write a new album free from commercial pressures or concerns about producing hits.
Etheridge made her name in the late 1980s and 1990s with gutsy songs about matters of the heart. But on her ninth album, “The Awakening,” she criticizes the Iraq war and sings songs reflecting her roles as an environmentalist, gay rights activist and Democratic Party supporter.
“I called my record company and said, you know what? I am going to turn something in and if you want to release it, great, if not fine,” she said in an interview.
“I basically came out of cancer and said I should only do what I love.”
Etheridge, 46, is best known for singing and playing guitar on raw-sounding hits including “I’m the Only One” and “Come to My Window” and “I Want To Come Over.” Her latest effort is her first album since 2004, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer and announced in 2005 she was cancer-free.
Her new attitude has impressed some early reviewers. Rolling Stone magazine said the album has more depth than her previous work and that “her illness means she’s earned the right to explore the big picture.”
Indeed, Etheridge wants her legacy to go beyond music.
On the eve of her latest album launch this week, she dined with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, whose documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” featured a global warming anthem by Etheridge that won an Academy Award this year.
Last month, she was one of four panelists who posed questions to Democrats running for the White House in a nationally televised debate sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign that dealt partly with same sex marriage and other issues important to the gay and lesbian community.
“I would like to be known as a good American. Someone who really believes in the dream of democracy,” she told Reuters this week. “I would like people to say ‘Oh, she really believes in American people — and she wrote some good songs too.”‘
After her cancer scare, media attention turned to the birth of twins last year with actress Tammy Lynn Michaels fathered with the help of an unidentified sperm donor. She also has two children with her former partner Julie Cypher, fathered with the help of sperm donor, rock singer David Crosby.
But Etheridge says her stance on gay rights is more about honesty than being an outspoken lesbian.
“I think we all understand that you can’t put the genie back in the bottle and that we are here and that gay people get born every day just like everybody else. It is not going to go away,” she said.
What goes up, must come down. Gwen Stefani is another artist that has proven that. She joins the likes of Beyonce, Mika and Constantine Maroulis as prime examples.
Gwen was doing her thing with her concert when she fell down during a performance in Glasgow, UK on September 20. She was in the middle of singing the song ?Cool?, the fourth single from her album ?Love. Angel. Music. Baby.? It may not be as entertaining as Beyonce?s fall nor was it as interactive as Constantine?s but it?s definitely noticeable. It?s either she fell through a trap door or she fell off the stage.
But as they say, the show must go on. Once Gwen got her balance back, the crowd went wild.
When you?re on the Master Cleanser Detox diet, you drink a mix of lemon, maple syrup, cayenne pepper, and water. You drink this all day and you aren?t allowed to eat anything. You also drink a mixture in the morning and at night, consisting of salt water and laxative tea, to speed up your metabolism and give you energy. Okay so Ashanti did this diet for a week and lost 8 pounds. That?s a lot of weight for one week! She said not only did she lose the weight but she kept it off. Hey, isn?t eating fruit cheating? I think so. Of course, I could never just drink a shitty drink all day, that?s for sure. Give me a semi-healthy Jamba Juice with low calories and I could do that, maybe. But not cayenne pepper and syrup. Sick! Is she just hotting up the size zero race here or what, just for a movie role these guys would gain and lose weight and then have all medical troubles and fatigue. How ridiculous. Wanna lose weight and keep it off? Just say no to the cheeseburgers, fries, shakes, pizza, etc?
Pop superstar Justin Timberlake has confessed he canceled two recent concerts because he was “hungover.” Justin, I think you?re phenomenal. Your music has gotten me through so many bad experiences; it makes me happy to listen to your sexy voice. That hangover thing is a road you don’t want to travel. It messed up my life, relationships, goals. Your so talented, don’t let the pressure force you to be something your really not. At the end of the day those people you get high with don’t really give a damn. Life will give you a thousand more opportunities to make up for this let up and you please do not listen to any of those barking comments calling for your apologizes for canceling the gig. They have no idea of how taxing it is to be a famous super celebrity singer; they all want to see you go down someday so that they have the final laugh on you. But I know you are a super performer and you can play to the crowds wherever you go whenever you want to. I love you. Cynthia
He?s retired, got out of retirement, retired again and now he?s getting out again. Jay-Z is going to drop a new album in November which is said to be inspired by a movie.
The rap superstar and president of Def Jam Records quietly went back into the studio with songs inspired by the film ?American Gangster?. This is his first concept album and second effort in less than a year. The album came together a few weeks after Jay-Z was shows the film starring Denzel Washington and directed by Ridley Scott.
With the underwhelming reception for his last disc and his troubles with Def Jam, this tie-in with the movie may just be his chance for a strong rebound. Good luck!
Troubled British pop star Amy Winehouse isn’t planning to sober up anytime soon – if her rider backstage at the MOBO Awards in London is anything to go by. The Rehab singer, who suffered health problems this summer after an apparent drug overdose, hasn’t cut back on her heavy drinking ways. Wasted talent.. she really should go to rehab poor thing she must have some really emotional heart agues for always wanting to be drunk she cant handle it sober.. is anyone surprised? I am not, really once these girls get into boozing and stuff like drugs then it really a matter of time that they start screwing up where ever they go, where they can. The awards ceremonies and parties are the perfect get away escapes for the drunkards and druggies with the comforts of lavish lounges and night clubs to party they just can?t resist the temptation to booze and get high all night till they are carried away by some friends to their homes or hotel rooms.
Its official! Kanye West beat 50 cent in their sales battle. West?s ? graduation? album outsold 50 Cent?s ?curtis? in the first week sales, 957000 to 691000 copies and that?s a huge margin of victory at about 266000 copies more. But let me tell you every blockbuster opens up in the first week very well because of huge expectations and the underdog will have a quite opening, wait until a couple of weeks have passed and then you should have a re look at the sales number. Wasn?t this exactly what 50 Cent predicted? That Kanye would beat him in the first week but he would bulldozer over him in the following weeks that Kanye?s hype would wear off as soon as people realized that it?s nothing but crap, Not that I care. 50 Cents is a close minded criminal and Kanye is a little Bitch. Kanye might have won the battle and I admit to that but the war is not over. There are small battles that are always won and lost but what matters is who wins that war.
Christina Aguilera and her husband Jordan Bratman are having a boy!
Or so reports OK! magazine. They are also saying that the baby boy is due out later this year.
The pregnant pop star has been spotted shopping for baby stuff recently and sources say that it?s been getting more gender-specific. A close pal of her reveals that the things being bought or asked to be given to the baby are all boy-themed and all blue.
Christina is yet to officially announce her pregnancy to the public but several people have already done it for her. E! News, Emmy Awards producer Ken Ehrlic and even Paris Hilton. Come on Christina. Come out with it already. Or are you waiting until the boy?s here?
Shut up Simon. You are only peeved because you did not make money from Ryan’s appearance. You know just because these guys are in the music industry and are successful they tend to have an opinion on every damn thing that goes on in the business and they think their opinions matter and shall have its justified effects. There are the ratings that have already proven that Ryan Seacrest?s show was not that well received and that should end the debate. Everyone has their opinion, some liked it some didn?t like it but that doesn?t mean that everyone?s opinion shall get printed in words. Simon thanks that you took time to air your views but the next it will be more appreciated if can shut your month and keep do what you do best and I have no clue what you do and neither do I care to know.
Warner Music Group Corp will sell a new album by the artist James Blunt through News Corp’s Internet social network MySpace, the Financial Times reported in its online edition.
U.S. consumers will be able to listen for free beginning on Tuesday to Blunt’s entire album from his MySpace webpage, the report said. They can purchase a download for $9.99 that will play on Apple Inc’s iPod, and will also receive a compact disc version in the mail, the report said.
The report said the experiment reflects the music industry’s effort to find new ways to sell music at a time when it is being hit by piracy and continuing declines in CD sales.
Warner Music was not immediately available for comment.
Troubled pop star Britney Spears’ comeback performance was plagued by drama but helped MTV’s Video Music Awards to reverse a long slide in the ratings. You see that?s the big picture as to why MTV wanted to have an out of shape, hopeless wreck Britney Spears perform at the Video Music Awards. Spears, 25, looked unprepared on Sunday night while performing her new song, “Gimme More,” to a bewildered audience of her music industry peers. But MTV would have cared a damn, they knew that if Britney preformed even in a burqa (Muslim women dress) then too there is currently so much interest in her personal life and her problems that it would generate enough curiosity for the views to switch on the TV sets and see her performance and that would automatically give them the TV ratings to make the show a success. MTV made their day but didn?t care what happened to her and her image.
50 Cent has slammed the bosses of cable music show “106 & Park” for failing to let him know rap rival Kanye West would be joined by hip-hop heavyweight Jay-Z during a TV face-off on Tuesday. I think 50 needs to just go ahead and retire. EVERYTHING IS NOT ALWAYSZ ABOUT YOU. 50 had the opportunity to do whatever he wanted on 106 Park. He has all of his smart (he claims that he is very smart and acute in all business senses) comments he is claims he is the best, then he should have thought of bringing Eminem not West problems. 50 Cent is just MAD because he was upstaged by West. West new what he had to do to sale them records. GO WEST! Sit it down 50 its over. Gy him have only one weapon in their hands and that is to way their tongues at every given opportunity and even when its not their chance to speak, they?ll come out and say the nicest things about themselves. 50 Cent, please leave for good.
Ashley Tisdale made a music video that is incredibly hot. And why wouldn?t it be? Not only does she have her big sister Jennifer in it but she also has ?Desperate Housewives? hot body Josh Henderson for the ?He Said, She Said? music video which took place in a club. The video will be aired on TRL on September 19.
When asked about what the video is about, Ashley simply said that ?I?m playing this girl, and I?m hanging out with my friends. It?s mainly dancing at the club, and there?s booty shots.?
The ?High School Musical? star will be releasing a music video trilogy on DVD which includes ?He Said, She Said?, ?Not Like That? and ?Suddenly?.
The judges, as well as the rest of America, have all molded fine musicians in the form of American Idol alumni like Carrie Underwood, Chris Daughtry and Elliot Yamin. Now, those same judges are setting their eyes on the train wreck that is Britney Spears.
Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul believe they have what it takes to bring back Brit?s career. In an announcement to FOX News, Simon says that to help revive Brit?s career, getting her ?away from her stupid friends? would be the main plan.
Simon continues by saying ?MTV ratings are up and all we’re hearing is Britney, Britney, Britney! She can turn it around.?
It?s unclear whether they want Britney as a guest star or a contestant but honestly, can they bring her career back from the grave she dug in Vegas?
Music mogul Carl Stubner is in a heap of trouble. Two words: Motley Crue. The band is alleging that Stubner scalped free tickets that were given to him when he was managing the rock group.
According to an amended complaint, Vince Neil, Nikki Sixx and Mick Mars are accusing Stubner of requesting tickets to their concerts and then selling them at scalper prices to get some extra money to flow into his pockets. The band is claiming that he used ?his position and status as a manager? and demanded numerous complimentary tickets per show, which he resold.?
A rep for Sanctuary Group, the management company that Stubner works under, could not be reached for any comment.
You could say that Kenny Chesney, with a top tour, hit after hit and another multiplatinum album, enjoyed an amazing last couple of years ? but you’d be wrong. Yes, he accomplished all that. But, enjoy it? That’s another matter.
2006 was another pinnacle in the seemingly unstoppable career of the country superstar, but it also may have been his most frustrating time as an artist ? and a person.
Chesney was still reeling from his very public breakup of his brief marriage to Academy Award-winner Renee Zellweger (and the tabloid frenzy that followed), and felt particularly uninspired, even when it came to what he loved most ? touring.
“I wasn’t mentally ready to go on the road, after all the media stuff that happened with the breakup with Renee, I just mentally wasn’t ready to go, so all last year, even though I had fun and the whole tour was amazing … mentally I just wasn’t 100 percent there,” he admits.
He was even reluctant to work on a follow-up to his multiplatinum 2005 album, “The Road and the Radio,” which featured such hits as “Beer in Mexico.”
“Last year at the CMA Awards … he said to me, `I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to get this record done; I don’t know what I want to say,’” Joe Galante, head of Sony Nashville, recalls Chesney saying.
Galante didn’t want to push his superstar to make a record he wasn’t ready to make. But he told him to take a crack at it, and see if something might give him inspiration.
Just as Galante suspected, the inspiration did come ? though not from the usual sources. Chesney, who has written or co-written tunes for all of his previous albums, found the most personal and profound songs for his new disc, “Just Who I Am: Poets and Pirates,” from the pens of others. The album, on sale Tuesday, doesn’t contain one song written by Chesney. Even so, he considers it perhaps the one that reveals his true emotions more than any other, especially with songs like “Wife and Kids,” where he wistfully yearns for the perfect family life that now eludes him, and “Better as a Memory,” in which he lists his own shortcomings as a mate.
“This record opens me up a little bit more, and I’m letting that happen more and more, and that’s tough for a guy like me, who’s constantly got a wall up,” says the congenial Chesney, relaxing at a Manhattan studio a few hours before a concert at Madison Square Garden.
“There’s a piece of me in all of these songs, there’s a whole lot of me in the majority of them,” he continues. “`Better as a Memory,’ that’s probably one of the most brutally honest songs that I’ve ever recorded about me, and it’s a letter that I’ve probably written to a lot of girls before.”
As Galante puts it: “I think he let people into the issues that are facing him.”
Part of this newfound introspection, and willingness to put more of his emotions out for public dissection, came after Chesney began working with a country great who has endured plenty of triumphs and setbacks in the public eye ? legend Willie Nelson. Chesney is the producer on Nelson’s next record, due out next year.
“Every artist feeds off inspiration, and when I needed it the most, God gave me Willie Nelson,” Chesney says.
When Chesney began working on the album in late 2006, he hadn’t started working on his own record, and admits to feeling “pretty stressed out.”
With all the lip synching, jelly jiggling, bitch slapping, sore-losing and bad fashion at the recently held VMAs, some musicians found time to show us that there?s still good left in the world in the form of their newly ripped hot bodies. Now you can gimme more of that!
Dr. Dre appeared in all his massive rock-hard glory like he was the Fantastic Four?s The Thing. Timbaland is no longer shy about his muscled body and brought sexyback by accentuating his pecks and guns with a little black tank. And Maroon 5?s front man Adam Levine shed his formerly scrawny image when he showed his buff shoulders and biceps in a hipster vest.
Its official–Britney Spears is a lost cause. That performance was horrible!!! And i never did like the song. The only people who will buy her CDs are young out of control teenagers. She didn’t perform at all tonight…where?s all the hype people put behind this? She didn’t dance, gave up on her lip synching, and looked high like she couldn’t figure out if she was coming or going. And where were all the Criss magic acts that people said she was working on with him all those “late nights”. Britney is a JOKE and this just proves it! I told you people out there that these VMAs is the make or break thing for her and it solely depended on her whether she wanted to extend her career or finish it with a lull. And we have it, she?s just slammed the door shut on her making a come back and the people who had even the slightest of interest left in her and her music would now have concluded that Britney is a star of a by gone era and there?s nothing left in her to suggest she can make it back from here.
Scores of bikini-clad babes and bare-chested hunks downing drinks by the pool. Gift suites overflowing with swag, from diamonds and designer jeans to fancy shades and hotel stays. Concerts by Kanye West, 50 Cent, Maroon 5 and Joss Stone for crowds that included Jamie Foxx, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Paris Hilton and Ashlee Simpson.
With the MTV Video Music Awards in town, Sin City took its debauchery and extravagance to a whole new level. The awards, featuring a much-hyped opening number by Britney Spears, are set to air live Sunday from the Palms hotel.
The unpredictable pop star was the talk of the weekend. People bragged about Britney sightings, buzzed about what events she would attend and offered opinions on her chances for a comeback.
Security guards, hotel workers, fans and photographers clamored and jockeyed for position at the mere rumor that Spears would show up at the Venetian hotel’s gifting suite on Saturday. She never showed. But she did stop by the Palms to rehearse her show-opening routine for her new single, “Gimmie More.”
Still, gift suites including the Star Lounge at Hard Rock Hotel and the Style Villa at Caesars Palace were hot destinations Saturday. Eve played X-Box and West kicked back in a poolside cabana at the Venetian. Ludacris and Nelly collected goodies at the Hard Rock. And 50 Cent picked up a $62,000 diamond-encrusted watch at Caesars. Other swag-collecting stars included Jennifer Hudson, Nelly, Lauren Conrad and Lil Jon.
The focus turned from freebies to parties once the sun went down. Christina Aguilera made an appearance at nightclub LAX, Pharrell Williams held a dinner soiree at the Venetian and Maroon 5 and Robin Thicke performed at the House of Blues. Maxim’s bash at Mandalay Bay, which featured an hourlong set by Stone, drew rapper Chamillionaire and “Entourage” stars Adrian Grenier and Kevin Connolly.
The Hard Rock Hotel was packed to capacity as it hosted concerts by West, 50 Cent and Linkin Park. Hilton, Ciara and Mario Lopez took in 50’s poolside show. Spears and Combs dropped by his afterparty before leaving together for nightclub Tao.
Simpson brought two dates to see West perform at Rolling Stone’s 40th anniversary party her dad, Joe Simpson, and her boyfriend, Pete Wentz. Eve and Jermaine Dupri were also on hand to see the set, during which Foxx and rapper T-Pain joined West on stage.
The ever-outspoken West had some less-than-kind words for Spears and MTV.
“I can’t believe she would perform. She hasn’t had a hit record in years,” he said, apparently miffed that MTV didn’t invite him to open the show. “Maybe my money’s not right. Maybe my skin’s not right.”
But producers who worked with Spears on her new album seemed confident she would regain her pop glory.
She will “surprise the world,” said Sean Garrett, who collaborated with the singer on three new tracks.
Besides Spears, 50 Cent, Rihanna, Nelly Furtado, Lil Wayne and Lily Allen are set to perform at the Video Music Awards.
The pop star has arrived in Las Vegas for her much anticipated opening performance on Sunday’s MTV Video Music Awards and has already checked in to the Palms Casino Resort.
Clad in jeans, a white shirt, floppy hat and sunglasses, Spears touched down in Las Vegas on Saturday afternoon with pal Alli Sims and another girlfriend and went straight to the Palms Sky Villa, a luxury suite equipped with pop-up plasma TVs, a rotating bed and views of the Strip. (Sons Sean Preston and Jayden James were spending the weekend in dad Kevin Federline’s care.)
But her arrival didn’t come off without a hitch ? after her flight was forced to circle the Las Vegas airport a few times and her pit stop at the hotel, she was a couple of hours late for rehearsal with illusionist Criss Angel.
Meanwhile, the rest of Vegas is gearing up for the blowout weekend. Friday night Diddy is hosting a pre-awards party at PURE nightclub in Caesars Palace, and Saturday night will bring out the likes of Christina Aguilera, Kanye West, Panic! at the Disco and more.
The showdown has come to Rolling Stone magazine?s cover. Kanye West and 50 Cent are featured on the latest cover of the magazine highlighting the fact that their albums would be dropping on the same date of September 11th in less than a week.
There?s an accompanying article entitled ?Who Will Be the King of Hip Hop?? where 50 pretty much talks Kanye down. 50 says that he had the highest-selling LB of 2003 and his 2005 released was the second-highest-selling album of that year. He goes on to compare Jay-Z?s recent sales to segue into saying that Kanye is merely a worker bee for Jay-Z and that Kanye can never generate as much interest.
Burn!
When you?re rock stars, feel free to do whatever crazy thing you want to do. Even if it means you get married a few hours after a show.
That?s exactly what My Chemical Romance lead singer Gerard Way and his girlfriend Lyn-Z (Lindsay), the bassist of Mindless Self Indulgence did on Monday night.
Gerard?s band opened for Linkin Park at the Projekt Revolution concert in Denver, Colorado which was sponsored by local radio station 93.3 FM. After the show, Gerard and Lindsay took the plunge into marriage. Their wedding was presided over by a staff member who happens to be an ordained minister.
Pink Floyd star David Gilmour deeply regrets not trying harder to visit his late friend Syd Barrett before his death last year and wishes he had been more forthright in his efforts to see the reclusive genius. Dave, you listen to your friends, not your friends wives. If he’s a friend, he’ll see you regardless of his family’s wishes, so you should’ve seen HIM regardless. I was in the same situation. I didn’t listen to his wife and she got mad, but had to deal with it. The friendship lasted till the day he died, but the marriage didn’t. He got tired of being treated like a child. That?s what happens when you follow your mind and not your heart, damn freaking man, if you have to meet your friend that too when he?s not keeping well and someone stops you better not listen to that person.
Rock stars — notorious for their “crash and burn” lifestyles — really are more likely than other people to die before reaching old age.
A study of more than 1,000 mainly British and North American artists, spanning the era from Elvis Presley to rapper Eminem, found they were two to three times more likely to suffer a premature death than the general population.
Between 1956 and 2005 there were 100 deaths among the 1,064 musicians examined by researchers at the Centre for Public Health at Liverpool John Moores University.
As well as Presley, the toll of those dying before their time included Doors singer Jim Morrison, guitar hero Jimi Hendrix, T Rex star Marc Bolan and Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain.
More than a quarter of all the deaths were related to drugs or alcohol abuse, said the study in the Journal of Epidemial Community Health.
“The paper clearly describes a population of rock and pop stars who are at a disproportionate risk of alcohol and drug related deaths,” said Mark Bellis, lead author of the study.
He said the study raised questions about the suitability of using rock stars for public health messages such as anti-drug campaigns when their own lifestyle was 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,” the report said.
It found that musicians were most at risk in the first five years after achieving fame, with death rates more than three times higher than normal.
Hendrix, Bon Scott of AC/DC and punk rocker Sid Vicious all died within five years of hitting the big time, said Bellis.
Among British artists the risk of dying remains high until around 25 years after their first success, when they return to near normal life expectancy.
That bodes well for rock survivors like The Who’s 63-year-old Roger Daltrey, who famously first sang “I hope I die before I get old” in the song “My Generation” back in 1965.
But this trend was not found in North America, where ageing rockers remain almost twice as likely to suffer a premature demise, particularly from heart attack or stroke.
American stars Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead, Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys and Johnny Ramone of the Ramones all died in their 50s.
Bellis suggested that the high death rate among older American musicians could be related to the continent’s greater appetite for reunion tours, exposing the artists for more years to an unhealthy “rock’n'roll” lifestyle.
It could also be due to the poor medical outlook for impoverished American ex-pop stars who have no health insurance, he said.
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