Abused Kid = Dead Rock Star

Solo Rock Stars Die Young by Tom Jacob  Dec. 19, 2012
… solo pop superstars are disproportionately likely to die young (although not necessarily at age 27).

That’s one finding of a study just published in the British journal BMJ Open, which takes a close look at mortality among rock and pop icons of the past half-century. And just like the rest of us, it finds, famous musicians are more likely to die from substance abuse if they had troubled childhoods…

Confirming earlier studies, the researchers report famous musicians are more likely than their fans to prematurely enter rock and roll heaven. Specifically, they found the gap in life expectancy between pop stars and the public widened consistently until 25 years after the musicians first became famous.

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“At the end of the day, good art is still an expensive, labor-intensive, pain-in-the-ass thing to make.”

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“pursue the stuff that you love. Pursue the music that moves you, because I feel like that’s ultimately what you’re going to be the best at. I find that a lot of people feel it’s very important to do things that they think are more commercially viable, things that they think more people want to hear. And obviously as a composer being versatile certainly is a huge asset, but I think that will come. I feel like it’s good, especially when you’re just starting out, to concentrate on what really moves you emotionally and musically. Focus on what your reason for getting into music is in the first place.”

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‘Does this make me want to listen to more or not?'”

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“Everyone’s doing 20 different things at once: listening to music, watching TV, and probably while on their iPad,” Rdio content marketing manager Kelli Fannon says. “When it comes to taking an hour to listen to an album in its entirety, I have all the best intentions in the world myself. But, ultimately, I can only get through the first three or four songs before the phone rings, or someone asks me a question, or I have a meeting I have to run to …”

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Neuroscience Proves — “Keep Writing”

Pursuing literary immortality illuminates how the mind works

by Dec. 13, 2012

So the artist, musician or author’s challenge is to create a work that retains a freshness, according to Case Western Reserve University’s Michael Clune, in his new book, Writing Against Time (Stanford University Press). And, for the artist, musician or writer, creating this newness with each work is a race against “brain time.”

Clune explains how neurobiological forces designed for our survival naturally make interest in art fade. But the forces don’t stop artists from trying for timelessness.

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‘You might as well be yourself. Somebody might like you.’

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