42

(The meaning of life for all you Douglas Adams fans!)

http://www.postchronicle....2254.shtml

While many dream of being a rock star or a pop star, a new study being called the 'rock star study' has revealed that such a lifestyle can be fatal.

A new study has been released in which the lives of 1,050 American and European music artists and entertainers were charted between the years of 1965 and 2005. The 'Rock Star Study' revealed that music artists are more than twice as likely to die at a young age when compared to the average individual.

Liverpool John Moores University researchers studied the lives of the music artists and concluded that they are more than twice as likely to die young than the general public of the same age. Their report appeared in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

According to Kansascity.Com, the team studied 1,064 stars from the rock, punk, rap, rhythm and blues, electronic and new-age genres in the "All Time Top 1,000" albums published in 2000. They compared each artist's age at death with that of European and U.S. citizens of similar backgrounds, sex and ethnicity.

The report found that from two to 25 years after the onset of fame, the risk of death was two to three times higher for music stars than for members of the general population matched for age, sex, nationality and ethnic background. In all, 100 of the stars studied had died - 7.3 percent of women and 9.6 percent of men. The average age of death was 42 for North American stars and 35 for European stars.

25 percent of the deaths were a result of long-term alcohol and/or drug use.

While you may have already known all of this - now it is a fact.

[Edited 9/8/07 11:11am]

This is really sad, seeing how these people bring others so much joy.

Some rockstars push boundaries to the point where they just don't have any.

It can create some great music/performances/art, but definately will take a personal/physical toll.

ive seen this around at a few other sites, its a bit prejudice i think. i mean really there are plenty of rockstars out there who dont use or if they do use they dont abuse and live long lives....look at bloody Keith Richards! if anybody he shoulda been dead a LONG time ago! But nooo that space case just keeps on ticking!

Suer they can be a big part of their lives, with all sorts of people wanting to be with them for their 15 mins of fame at any means even if its supplying said rockstar with drugs. But ultimately its their own choice