The Day The Music Died! - (A Song-Inspired Story)

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Remember that line written by Don Mclean "the Day the Music Died", he wrote that song (American Pie) to commemorate Buddy Holly who died in a plane crash in 1959 together with Ritchie Valens, and "The Big Bopper" J. P. Richardson.

The Day The Music Died - Don McLean on Buddy Holly's crash

It´s written that for McLean that crash symbolized the "loss of innocence" of the early rock-and-roll generation.

Over time Rock&Roll lost all its innocence and come the eighties it was little more than a money-making machine. Luckily the internet is changing that a little nowadays.

The good news is that the music never died fully, although lately I am being haunted by the deaths of many of the greats. All get taken to play the great big gig in the Sky, talent like Mr. Jim Steinman and his accomplish Mr. Meatloaf left this rock in space within a year from each other.

MEAT LOAF/JIM STEINMAN - Wasted Youth / All Revved Up With No Place To Go - 1978

To Never Be A Grandpa

Now that Don Mclean song was playing through my head while I was finishing up my article about our Eighties heroes such as George Michael, Michael Jackson, and Prince and how they all seem to be dying before their grandpa days.

What I stumbled upon is that many of those artists did not die of natural causes, they often died of one particular cause. An Overdose of prescription Meds.

Where rockstars used to die of a drug overdose, mostly Heroin, sometimes Morphine, they are now taken from us by pain medication.

Placebo - Meds (lyrics)

Maybe I am overdoing it a bit, as even back when Elvis died codeine and Percodan were among the drugs found in Elvis Presley’s body. Still looking at the list of dead musicians I see a trend.
The Ultimate List of Musicians Lost to Drugs – WhiteSandsTreatment.com – Infographic
Created and approved to share by WhiteSandsTreatment.com

Michael Jackson

MJ died of an accidental overdose administered by his physician consisting of Lorazepam and propofol. So even though he used fentanyl it did not kill him. Unlike two other greats that did die of

Prince

Accidental Fentanyl overdose, as Prince had a Painkiller addiction. Rumor has it that his doctor was not available or willing to prescribe anything that night, and Prince took to the streets where he probably picked up Vicodin laced with fentanyl that killed him.

Tom Petty

Tom could get a lifetime achievement award if it came to drug use. He was a recovering addict for years. Still, the medical examiner found these drugs in Petty's system: fentanyl, oxycodone, acetyl fentanyl, and despropionyl fentanyl, which are opioids; temazepam and alprazolam, which are sedatives; and citalopram, an antidepressant.

Acetyl fentanyl is estimated to be 15 times more potent than morphine, but much less potent than actual fentanyl. It is a drug and has never been considered medication.

The cause of death was "multisystem organ failure due to resuscitated cardiopulmonary arrest(cardiac arrest) due to mixed drug toxicity" and the death was listed as an "accident." A high dose of fentanyl can cause respiratory failure, and that failure will trigger the cardiac arrest.

Chris Cornell

Yes, indeed Chris did not die directly of Meds, but hung himself. Still in his blood were evident signs of prescription drug abuse:
The toxicology report revealed his blood contained high levels of barbiturates (prescription sedatives), four doses of lorazepam (also known as the anxiety medication Ativan), and what I think was weird Naloxone which was administered by EMTs to stop a possible overdose. Why would Naloxone be administered if it was a suicide, right?

Especially after reading this:

Attorney Kirk Pasich elucidated further, stating, “Without the results of toxicology tests, we do not know what was going on with Chris — or if any substances contributed to his demise. Chris, a recovering addict, had a prescription for Ativan and may have taken more Ativan than recommended dosages. The family believes that if Chris took his life, he did not know what he was doing, and that drugs or other substances may have affected his actions.”

Chris Cornell Like Suicide Acoustic

Dear reader give me just one minute more as I am coming to the point, I just need some time and love to get lost in the details.

The point is: Why do they Die?

Back in the day when heroin and morphine were the drugs of choice stopping someone from ODing was a bit easier. In those days you had time to soak them in a bath or keep them moving until they got to the ER.

Not with Fentanyl, and some of these other fancy addictive devices big pharma came up with. You nowadays have about 20 minutes before they stop breathing. That's how overdoses with such drugs kill. First, they lose consciousness and then they stop breathing.

Music, Fame, and Drugs somehow seem to go hand in hand. From my personal experience drugs are everywhere, but more widely available in the Music scene. That did not stop me from wondering why so many musicians lately died of some extreme painkillers.

Morphine - Cure For Pain

Till I started reading up on this pandemic that Big Pharma has invested the US with.

From May 2020 to April 2021, more than 100,000 Americans died from a drug overdose, with over 64 percent of these deaths due to synthetic opioids like fentanyl and its analogs.

China used to be the biggest supplier but banned the sale and production of the drug in 2019. The ban does not seem to be effective as the stream of fentanyl and related products out of China has only increased.

It increased so drastically that even the normal drug market is invested with fentanyl, drugs are laced or replaced by this substance.
Hence looking at those global numbers the number of musicians dying from these super painkillers is not even that high. In the case of Prince and Tom Petty, it seems it was indeed a combination of addiction and pain that ended their careers.

Tom was determined to finish his last tour ever even though he had hellish pains, as explained by his wife and daughter on Facebook.

"Despite this painful injury he insisted on keeping his commitment to his fans and he toured for 53 dates with a fractured hip and, as he did, it worsened to a more serious injury.
"On the day he died he was informed his hip had graduated to a full-on break and it is our feeling that the pain was simply unbearable and was the cause for his overuse of medication."

music small.svg

Prince´s story is more dramamatic. The Daily Mail, not the best source I know, had an interview with a man calling himself Doctor D. This dealer says he sold the Partyman Prince drugs for nearly 25 years. According to Doctor D. Prince was a “majorly addicted,” that used the drugs to deal with his “crippling stage fright.”

More factual was that Prince already overdosed one week before his death. His plane made an emergency landing and Prince was carried from the plane by his bodyguard “like you would carry a little kid or a baby.” Paramedics had to use two doses of a medicine that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose.

When Prince and his intimates discussed that he needed to stop using painkillers Prince said he couldn’t — his hands hurt so much that if he quit, he’d have to stop performing. A lifetime of extreme performances had been taking its toll on the little man that was larger than life on a stage.

That "stage life" is probably the origin of all those heroes dying before their time.
Artists are touring more than ever before. This is the first generation that has been going on the road for so many years, doing such long tours. On the road they are live the Rock & Roll lifestyle, drinking a lot, sleeping a little, not eating right, or taking care of themselves.

Charming Liars - Like a Drug

But fame is a drug that too often keeps pulling them back in, and if it ain´t the fame it´s the lack of savings:

“It’s very difficult to not take pain meds.” David Crosby, 76, says he tours out of necessity, “or else I will not be able to keep my home. I don’t have any savings.

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The Bottom Line

Guess the bottom line is that we never had a generation of global rock stars reaching their pensions, slowly sliding into their grandpa days. Fame is a drug, being a performer takes a lot from the body, and being an artist often requires a sensitivity that makes dealing with fame & fortune nearly impossible.

That partially explains what we are seeing, but drug usage and addiction are actually quite common and mundane. People use drugs to get away from their lives and troubles because they are unable to deal with them.
There is a line that turns creative use into drug abuse but we only hear about it if fame has fallen, not when the neighbor across the street OD'd.

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15 comments
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I saw just the other day that they made a documentary about that Don McLean song. I think they are playing it on Paramount Plus. I might subscribe to the service just so I can watch it. My wife and I were both talking about it the other day and she seemed interested to see it too. Either that or I will just wait until it is available for free somewhere. My favorite McLean song is actually Castles in the Air, not American Pie.

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He was one of my mom's favorites so I grew up on his song but I think I will go with Vincent not only because I am Dutch but I love that "how you suffered for your sanity" part.

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Vincent is a really good song. I agree with you there!

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Wow! This post is deeply underrated. I can't believe no one has replying to his. Man, What a wonderful and meaningful you just had done! I mean every single word of this. Trust me, this is gold. The whole argument, the Buddy and Richie Valens story, I mean, even the Chris Cornell song... I'm amazed! Thanks a lot for this!

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Thank you! Your comment makes it worth the time it took, as it took me quite some time. But it was great doing the research and creating this post. And it happens, sometimes gems stay uncovered for a long time 😉

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Man, you just nailed it with this post! Great, great job!

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(Edited)

They were legends. I've seen the movie and listened to their songs.. very sad.

I guess many musicians need those drugs to numb their consciousness to what they are involved in. The song Little Mermaid by The Troot probably sums it up best.

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Now that is a song I never heard of till now, but wow THX !CTP

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I believe that at least a few of those didn't actually take an overdose or killed themselves (like Chris Cornell) but were 'suicided'. Isn't it a coincidence that both Chris and Chester Bennington were working on exposing child trafficking? Tom Petty was pretty outspoken about politics as well, as was Prince...Even George Michael had something to say. Michael Jackson...another one that took secrets into his grave (and no, I've never believed what they accused him of). I mean, his doctor was getting paid BANK. Why would he chance his career and all that money to kill Michael, even if it was an accident? I just don't believe it. There are a lot of very fishy things around all those deaths...
The last one in that row would be Taylor Hawkins. I'll ask Dave when I see him hehe.

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I did not add Taylor as I could not find prove that his heroine was or might have been laced with fentanyl. But Chester and Chris ...idk both had depressions and well goed voorbeeld doet goed volgen, but still that was a bit too coincidental even for me.

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WAYYYY too coincidental. Also the fact that Chester looks like the spitting image of dirt bag John Podesta. Chris Cornell's last album doesn't seem like a coincidence either.
And as for 'goed voorbeeld doet volgen'... I don't believe for one second that if you're THAT depressed that you want to step out of life, that you wait until it's your best friend's birthday, and then kill yourself in the same crazy way. I think the last thing on someone's mind in those moments is: Oh, let's do this like Chris did it. Although I have to say that when my friend in Ireland committed suicide in May 2020 (!) she seemed to have thought things through somehow.
She had medication readily available as she was on several, as well as sleeping tablets...However, she chose to hang herself, and no drugs was found in her blood. The first thing that came to my mind was how terrible it must have been for her, and why not take the easy way out by going to sleep? And then I thought that maybe she did it that way because she didn't want her two sons to hear that she was under the influence on that fatal day.
So I guess anything is possible. But my gut feelings said right away that it was foul play with both Chris and Chester, and that it was a message to others: Don't try anything or else...

As for Taylor...I suspect that the vaccine had something to do with it, and this was a cover up.
Even on one of their albums there's some messaging, or so it seems. But of course, that could just be my paranoid mind at play.

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Well you know the saying, better paranoid than plain stupid😁 oh no that´s my saying

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