Study shows fame can shorten musicians' lives by 5 years
What's the story
A recent study has revealed that fame can reduce a musician's life expectancy by 4.6 years, similar to the effects of occasional smoking. The study, published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, identifies a direct connection between fame and mortality for the first time. It was conducted by researchers at the University of Witten Herdecke in Germany who analyzed data from 648 singers, half famous and half less-known.
Research findings
Study details: Famous singers v/s less-known artists
The famous singers were chosen from the top 2,000 Artists of All Time list by Acclaimed Music. The researchers matched each famous singer with a less-known counterpart based on gender, nationality, and music genre. They found that famous singers had an average life expectancy of 75 years while their less-known counterparts lived to 79. "The increased mortality risk associated with fame is comparable to other well-known health risks such as occasional smoking," the authors wrote as per the BBC.
Additional findings
Solo artists face higher mortality risk, study reveals
The study also revealed that solo artists faced a higher mortality risk compared to singers in bands. This was likely because they had less emotional and practical support from band members. The authors suggested that loss of privacy, public scrutiny, and performance pressure could be contributing factors to this increased risk. However, the study emphasized that these factors are not conclusively linked to the higher mortality rate among famous musicians.
Gender imbalance
Gender disparity and historical context in the study
The study had a significant gender imbalance, with 83.5% of the subjects being male and only 16.5% female. This raises questions about whether the findings can be generalized across genders. Previous research has also shown that pop stars who achieved fame between ages two and 25 were two to three times more likely to die young than their peers. The so-called "27 Club," which includes musicians like Amy Winehouse and Kurt Cobain, is another example of this phenomenon.