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Rock Until You Drop

September 06, 2007 | Other
Live fast, die young and leave a beautiful corpse, he may have been an actor but it seems rock stars have been taking James Dean's advice. They are notorious for their 'crash and burn' lifestyles and now there is scientific data to prove hard rockers really do die young.

A study of more than 1,000 mainly British and North American artists, from Elvis Presley to rapper Eminem, found they were two to three times more likely to suffer a premature death than the general population. Researchers at Liverpool John Moores University studied a sample of stars from the rock, punk, rap, RB, electronic and new age genres. Mark Bellis, leader of the study, said his research showed the stereotype of rock stars was true - recreational drugs and alcohol-fuelled parties take a toll.

The report found that, between two and 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. They included Elvis Presley, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix.

The average age of death was 42 for North American stars and 35 for European stars.
Source:Google
Elvisnites wrote on September 06, 2007
Well, Elvis never did let anyone down. Not even a stupid stereotype. Elvis starts a new trend.
ElvisFab wrote on September 08, 2007
The fact that most hard rock stars live fast and burn out quick may stem from a feeling of insecurity, which leads to a need to push harder to leave a mark on this world before their gone, so that they will not be forgotting easily.