Music, Fame, Tragedy

I used to listen to music all the time. Always, in my car, I had the radio or CD playing. And quite often, I would turn my CD jukebox on to relax instead of watching TV at home. Back then I could tell you the title and artist of every song and probably even more details about the artists. My preferred genre was country music. Since my accident, I have not been interested in music. Blame it on the head injury. I don’t know. But now, I couldn’t tell you any of the new country music artists in the last nine years or so, let alone any of the songs.

I guess because of recent major changes in my life I have tried to find comfort in going back to my youth and childhood. So, the past few days I have been listening to music that brings me back to those times. Basically, 1980s country music. Mostly Alabama, Keith Whitley, Lorrie Morgan, and a little Earl Thomas Conley, Steve Wariner, etc.

Anyway, I was reading about Keith Whitley on Wikipedia. I knew he died from acute alcohol poisoning. He died right around the time I was graduating from high school. I remember sitting in my dorm room freshman year at Utah State University listening to Keith Whitley music. Wikipedia said the autopsy results showed a .477% blood-alcohol content. To give you perspective .08% is legally drunk. I think Wikipedia said that would be 20 shots of 100 proof whiskey.

I started thinking about the tragedy of his life. At the time, he was at the peak of his career, married to Lorrie Morgan, and they had an almost 2 year old son. Wikipedia said that Keith started drinking when he started playing the music scene before he was legally of age to imbibe. To his credit, he tried to quit drinking a few times but never did.

In light of Whitney Houston’s funeral today, I started thinking about why it is that famous people, who die early, almost always die from substance abuse. The toxicology reports are not back yet for Whitney Houston, but it is well documented that she had substance abuse problems. Whether it killed her or not, it must have played a role somehow in her premature death.

Two other big names that come to mind are Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson. Towards the end of their lives both of them looked quite ill. It’s extremely sad. I don’t know if it was the fame that they couldn’t handle or if they would have turned to substance abuse regardless. But I tend to think that fame had a big part in it.

I find it to be quite ironic that people seek fame as a way to find happiness, or whatever the reason is, yet ofttimes it has the opposite effect. It causes nothing but misery for which they turn to substance abuse as a way to cope.

I can’t help but think of how their lives would have turned out differently if they would have had the gospel. But then again, I don’t think fame and the gospel are compatible lifestyles.

That’s my two cents.