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Fame Reduces A Musician’s Life Expectancy
Mic drop // Image by Kait Cunniff with DALL-E
A new study has found that fame has the same mortality rate in musicians as occasionally smoking cigarettes, shortening lives by an average of 4.6 years.
Why It Hurts: While fame seems cool (and yes, there are of course many cool things about it), the pressure it puts on artists is often underappreciated — especially for young singer-songwriter stars who may not be emotionally or mentally equipped for such a meteoric rise.
Between The Lines: Researchers from Witten/Herdecke University in Germany published their fame-danger findings in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.
The study compared data from an even split of 648 famous artists (selected from the “2,000 Artists Of All Time” list) with that of less well-known musicians.
The chosen artists included an array of solo artists and lead and back-up singers in bands. (To note: 83.5% were male and only 16.5% were female.)
A famous artist and a non-famous artist were then paired based on similar characteristics, such as gender, nationality, and even the genre of music they play.
When comparing the two cohorts, those who had reached stardom lived to an average age of 75, while those who didn’t quite hit it big lived to an average of 79.
Last Track: The researchers concluded that fame is a “turning point” in artists’ health outcomes, exacerbated by demanding tour schedules, public scrutiny, and the general pressure to perform at a high level.
And the risk is not always equal. Solo artists have it harder than singers in bands, and a separate study found that artists who became famous before the age of 25 have a two-to three-times higher mortality risk than the general population. The infamous 27 Club is not for nothing, apparently.
The Future: If the study has an effect on artists, it’s possible that we could see more stars take dedicated, extended breaks from the public eye to recoup — something health-conscious Gen Z could get behind.
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Today’s email was written by David Vendrell.
Edited by Nick Comney. Polled and Copy-edited by Kait Cunniff.
Published by Darline Salazar.