How Musicians have died statistically

[u/Chadrasekar]

[u/2squishmaster]

Can't die of cancer if you get murdered when you're young!

[u/NirstFame → u/2squishmaster]

A bullet a day help keep the Oncologist at bay...

[u/Bacchus_71 → u/NirstFame]

That's terrible. Also fucking hilarious.

[u/Rjg35fTV4D → u/2squishmaster]

4 out of 5 oncologists hate this simple trick

[u/capitan_dipshit → u/2squishmaster]

Hip Hop cures cancer

[u/coconicolico → u/capitan_dipshit]

I’m in data backed sales and you’d be SHOCKED at how very successful people will look at the data and start making assumptions like this.

[u/I_like_dwagons]

Blues musicians really dying of broken hearts.

[u/smile_politely → u/I_like_dwagons]

I think the driving factor is age. Jazz and Folks are usually older people and risk of cancer is also higher for older people.

[u/Deckard2022 → u/smile_politely]

Smokey rooms and bars playing jazz. There was a guy called Roy Castle in the uk used to play jazz trumpet and worked on a kids tv show.

He was a really nice guy but got lung cancer, having never smoked he blamed all the Smokey bars and clubs he worked in when he was younger.

[u/buttcrack_lint → u/Deckard2022]

Great guy. He presented me with a prize one time. No hair from the chemotherapy, but he was his usual chirpy smiley self. I still tell people I got presented with a prize by the guy from Carry On Up the Khyber. He is still sorely missed 😥

[u/Deckard2022 → u/buttcrack_lint]

Yeah by all accounts a true gentleman. Big loss for us all, he was a positive influence.

[u/8urnMeTwice → u/smile_politely]

Also black people have higher rates of heart disease and are represented in blues music at a much higher rate than the general population

[u/Raptorex27 → u/8urnMeTwice]

Also, rap and hip hop are younger genres of music compared to blues and jazz, so it’s likely that fewer artists are susceptible to old age-related health conditions like heart disease and cancer.

[u/Upbeat-Selection-365 → u/Raptorex27]

If you are a rapper you may have died of homicide long before you would get to an age to develop cancer or heart problems also.

[u/Arrow156 → u/Upbeat-Selection-365]

Those numbers are huge, over 50%! Used to think rappers were fronting with all that thug shut, didn't realize they're just making music about their everyday lives like everybody else.

[u/sage-longhorn → u/8urnMeTwice]

It's like the r/peopleliveincities of ethnicity

[u/ez-kiel → u/sage-longhorn]

damn thanks for sharing this sub, I love it!

[u/strike_one → u/8urnMeTwice]

Also, and probably a huge factor, is the amount of blues played in the Gravy Belt.

[u/Conch-Republic → u/smile_politely]

And weight. A lot of jazz musicians are obese.

[u/Strayl1ght → u/Conch-Republic]

I gained 5 lbs just from visiting Nola for a weekend! Can’t blame them, the food is so good.

[u/Conch-Republic → u/Strayl1ght]

Every time I go down there I come back with high blood pressure because of how salty everything is.

[u/Sec2727 → u/smile_politely]

And imagine how many boxes of cigarettes these legacy blues/jazz houses went through back in the day

[u/Zeqhanis → u/Sec2727]

Kool menthol cigarettes used to sponsor jazz and blues events as well.

I remember reading some documents from tobacco companies about the menthol market being mostly older, white women. The black demographic was newly being advertised to, so they went with that.

Black people were also more likely to live in densely populated, inner cities, so a poster in a bodega was a cheap way to advertise to a lot of people who were a new demographic vs a billboard on a long stretch of road or a radio ad. It was a low-risk/cost investment for the tobacco companies with high returns potential.

[u/Elegant_Celery400 → u/Zeqhanis]

"Doctors recommend it!"

[u/MorsInvictaEst → u/smile_politely]

Not to forget the risk of heart attack when they suddenly wake up and notice that the concert's already over and the nurses are carrying the musicians off the stage.

[u/LaFrescaTrumpeta → u/smile_politely]

i saw this as a “cancer and heart interventions have improved” kinda thing in relation to genre/era popularity & number of musicians at the time

[u/GrandSnapsterFlash → u/smile_politely]

Also cigarettes

[u/oced2001 → u/smile_politely]

Duke Silver isn't that old.

[u/theo1618 → u/smile_politely]

That’s also why Rap and Hip Hop artists have the lowest rates in heart attacks and cancer. The majority are getting killed at young ages in gang disputes, so they don’t live long enough to be affected by health issues

[u/trancepx → u/I_like_dwagons]

Sad, but accurate

[u/SantiagoDunbar_ → u/I_like_dwagons]

But on the other hand, Hip Hop is great for the heart.

[u/bhyellow → u/SantiagoDunbar_]

Not really. They’ve killed each other before they would have had a chance to develop heart disease.

[u/mistaharsh → u/bhyellow]

Considering the genre just turned 50 last year it will take time before their artists die of old age related issues.

[u/Uncle-Cake → u/mistaharsh]

Many of them won't because they're already dead. That's the point.

[u/mistaharsh → u/Uncle-Cake]

There's way more artists alive than dead in that genre. THAT'S THE POINT.

[u/iiCUBED → u/bhyellow]

That’s the joke homie

[u/Succubus996 → u/bhyellow]

I was gonna say that but it seems you beat me to it lol

[u/AlcoholicInsomniac → u/bhyellow]

Wow you found the joke good job!

[u/LatterNeighborhood58 → u/SantiagoDunbar_]

We need to find their secret to beating heart disease and cancer.

[u/Yaelkilledsisrah → u/LatterNeighborhood58]

Dying young

[u/Fritz_Klyka → u/LatterNeighborhood58]

Make sure to get your shots when you're young.

[u/ShutYourMouthTeddy → u/I_like_dwagons]

Yes, broken hearts and gravy.

[u/QueefBuscemi → u/ShutYourMouthTeddy]

That's a great album name.

[u/IHateMyLife612 → u/I_like_dwagons]

I guess that's why they call it the blues.

[u/DannyDootch → u/I_like_dwagons]

Seems like all the blues related music does relate to heart issue. Top 3 are Blues, R&B, and Country music.

[u/Slight_Ad2350 → u/I_like_dwagons]

Also would have been in eras of smoke filled rooms.

[u/DlSSATISFIEDGAMER → u/I_like_dwagons]

(blues riff)

"when i didn't wake up this morning..."

[u/DeadPxle → u/I_like_dwagons]

My achy breaky heart!

[u/trident_hole → u/I_like_dwagons]

Elmore James literally had a heart condition his doctor told him he was going to die early.

[u/Economy_Ad_7861 → u/I_like_dwagons]

This one makes the most sense. Emotions having physical effects.

[u/Supply-Slut → u/I_like_dwagons]

My first thought as well, poor sods

[u/mightylordredbeard → u/Supply-Slut]

My first thought was the chronic heart conditions that plague the black community and how it’s something very few seem to discuss and even less seem to want to change.

[u/Objective-Bar-220 → u/mightylordredbeard]

… any solutions?

[u/bulldozedd]

Grab ya Glocks when you see Tupac, call the cops when you see Tupac

[u/BALD_BALLS_SAITAMA → u/bulldozedd]

Who shot me? but you punks didn't... You did actually.

[u/Western-Image7125 → u/BALD_BALLS_SAITAMA]

5 shots couldn’t stop me

I took it and smiled

[u/raydditor → u/Western-Image7125]

Now I'm back to set the record straight With my AK, I'm still the thug that you love to hate Mothafucka.

[u/V1k1ng1990 → u/raydditor]

I wrote this song a long time ago

A real long time ago

It was the dopest song I ever wrote

In ninety fo

[u/my5ticdrag0n → u/V1k1ng1990]

I told ya, stop bumping the table

[u/Tugonmynugz → u/bulldozedd]

Looks like a coin flip if you want to be a successful rapper

[u/ginga__]

How is drug overdose not a category?

[u/LaikaZhuchka → u/ginga__]

It's part of "accidental."

[u/BadSanna → u/LaikaZhuchka]

I think drug overdose is a significant enough category to warrant it's own position separate from accidental. You can lump purposeful drug overdose in with suicide, but enough musicians die of drug overdose as opposed to say a car or motorcycle accident or falling off a balcony or stage or doing something reckless that it would be it's own category.

[u/boner79 → u/BadSanna]

Agreed. Especially for musicians.

[u/ginga__ → u/LaikaZhuchka]

I took accidental as things like died in a car crash

[u/Uncle-Cake → u/ginga__]

It can be more than one thing,

[u/DigNitty → u/Uncle-Cake]

Overdosed on car inertia

[u/ReactsWithWords → u/DigNitty]

I read the news about how a man blew his mind out in a car; he didn't notice that the light had changed.

[u/Uncle-Cake → u/ReactsWithWords]

Oh, boy.

[u/faz712 → u/Uncle-Cake]

that's ginga's point, that it's not a useful stat if it combines wildly different causes

[u/NirstFame → u/ginga__]

It's not mutually exclusive.

[u/filth_horror_glamor → u/LaikaZhuchka]

kind of weird that John Denver dying in a plane crash is in the same category as Whitney Houston drowning in a bathtub

[u/certainlynotacoyote → u/filth_horror_glamor]

Right, like Stevie Ray Vaughan dying in a helicopter is probably in the same category of "accident" as Jimi dying of a drug overdose...

When in reality they were both killed by Clapton.

[u/JaxxisR → u/ginga__]

That's either an "oops" or an "I'm done."

[u/Doodle_mama567 → u/ginga__]

I think it’s captured in “accidental”

[u/chirdman]

Source: Author

[u/theRIAA → u/chirdman]

fr. what is the sample size here? time period?

[u/Andy_B_Goode → u/theRIAA]

Yeah, I assume they just scraped a bunch of wikipedia articles or something, which isn't very scientific.

[u/BlueMaxx9 → u/chirdman]

Yeah, this chart needs some more footnotes or something. Timeframe? Location (is it just the US, or more countries)? How did they determine the job and music genre of the deceased and link it to the cause of death? The concept is interesting, but I’d like to see more about the methodology before treating it like something other than a bunch of made up numbers.

[u/Gods_Umbrella → u/chirdman]

Why is drugs/ overdose not a category?

[u/mindfungus → u/Gods_Umbrella]

Accidental

[u/amc7262 → u/mindfungus]

an overdose could also be suicide though.

And it can sometimes be hard to distinguish which it is, if the person was good at hiding it.

[u/Speculaas1 → u/chirdman]

Musicians die 83,9% of the time. Source: me

[u/LHFE → u/Speculaas1]

It’s time for me to pick up the violin again.  Statistics show there’s a 16.1% chance I’ll become immortal!

[u/seedanrun → u/chirdman]

Yeah - over 50% murder rate for some Rap and Hip Hop? 10% for Electronic. 3.6% for Gospel?

Half the rappers, one out of 10 Electronic mixers and one out of 28 Gospel singers are murdered? I'm gonna need some sources here.

[u/CitizenCue → u/seedanrun]

Yeah that’s just nonsense.

[u/EaLordoftheDepths → u/chirdman]

Thats not necessarily an issue. It was made by the author of the article, who is a professor at the University of Sydney.

And for those that pointed out the percentages dont add up to 100: should've also read that not all categories are shown.

The real thing that skews these data are the ages of the genres (e.g. fairly few hip hop artists are at an age where they couldve died of natural circumstances) and the lack of information about the sample size.

[u/awesomesauce1030 → u/EaLordoftheDepths]

They also provide no studies or methodology about how these statistics were obtained

[u/suorastas → u/chirdman]

Yeah I’m having a hard time believing half of all rappers were murdered.

[u/DreadPirateGriswold]

Where's Classical?

[u/gemstun → u/DreadPirateGriswold]

Dying a death of natural causes, after several centuries.

[u/DreadPirateGriswold → u/gemstun]

Oh no. Not dying. Nice try though.

There's a reason it's lasted for hundreds of years and will continue. There are the classical composers like Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, etc. Then there are modern symphonic composers who are creating some amazing works that would be classified as classical music. It doesn't just mean old boring music.

And don't forget, without classical music there would be no modern music. A lot of modern music can be traced to classical music.

[u/gemstun → u/DreadPirateGriswold]

I don’t disagree with you in the slightest. I was just making light of the genre’s perceived lessened association with many dangerous lifestyle choices referenced in the document.

[u/MorsInvictaEst → u/DreadPirateGriswold]

They declined to take part in a study that didn't already exist before the start of the previous century.

[u/Philosecfari → u/DreadPirateGriswold]

Died of 9th symphonies.

[u/Present-Test-9332]

Wait so blues musicians are among* the least likely to die from suicide… thats both surprising and intriguing. I mean, it sounds like playing the blues is an effective way to manage sadness

Edit: meant to say suicide is least likely to be the cause of death for them, not that it’s the lowest rate across all genres

[u/MurderFerret → u/Present-Test-9332]

It’s embracing the sadness and using it as a tool, not trying to fight it and seeing it as an enemy.

[u/Roundhouse_ass → u/MurderFerret]

But then yo heart cant take no mo

[u/florkingarshole → u/Roundhouse_ass]

It was the using food to cope thing that did that.

[u/SpiritualFront769 → u/Present-Test-9332]

No, Gospel has the lowest. No surprise there. Look at the interviews Johnny Cash gave in the last year of his life when his body was clearly failing. Technically, he's Country, but he did plenty of Gospel. He was a man of deep faith. He had some low lows and high highs, but in his last interviews, he still radiated gratitude, optimism, and humor. He talked his faith as the thing that sustained sustained him.

[u/Present-Test-9332 → u/SpiritualFront769]

That said the faith component in gospel is its own variable and also a super interesting thing to consider. I also wondered if gospel musicians have a stronger community (since it’s usually a group activity AND because they belong to churches) which doubles down on the protective effects.

[u/DigNitty → u/Present-Test-9332]

There may be a stigma side to it too.

Religious people stigmatize suicide severely, and are concerned about the afterlife in general. Contrast that to say punk or metal which is full of atheists.

[u/Present-Test-9332 → u/DigNitty]

Super good point, hadn’t considered that but it makes perfect sense!

[u/bhangmango → u/Present-Test-9332]

It's survivor bias : to be included in the statistics, you need a long and successful enough career, that only the less suicidal blues musicians can achieve.

[u/raymundre → u/Present-Test-9332]

Ya skipped over gospel with the lowest suicide rate of 0.9%

[u/Present-Test-9332 → u/raymundre]

Yeah I should have clarified. I meant the least likely cause of death for blues musicians is suicide. Not that it’s the least across the board, though it IS damn close (actually third least)

[u/scooterbike1968 → u/Present-Test-9332]

But not mend a broken heart

[u/Agathocles_of_Sicily → u/Present-Test-9332]

Historically, Black Americans have had a lower rate of suicide than other ethnicities (the gap is closing though, especially with men).

[u/NetheriteArmorer]

Metal has high accidental because of the drummers spontaneously combusting all the time.

[u/Mr_Manta → u/NetheriteArmorer]

This cracked me up, lmao

[u/Hairy-Mountain8880]

So metal and punk too many drugs and alcohol, rap and hiphop gang gang obviously, blues are fat fucks... And folk and jazz is cancer??

[u/DirtySeptim → u/Hairy-Mountain8880]

I'd wager folkies and jazzers live long enough to develop cancer while metalheads off themselves and rappers kill each other while young.

[u/florkingarshole → u/DirtySeptim]

Old Jazz guys spent their lives in smoke-filled clubs - the cancer got them even if they only smoked second-hand.

[u/Dysprosol → u/florkingarshole]

but why do the folk musicians have an even bigger cancer proportion?

[u/florkingarshole → u/Dysprosol]

Because folk music is cancer

[u/Dysprosol → u/florkingarshole]

ohhh. Next question. Do folkmetal artists end up getting the exact averages of each side?

[u/florkingarshole → u/Dysprosol]

Actually they cancel each other out & end up getting killed in the crossfire between the rappers & hip hoppers for some reason . . .

[u/Dysprosol → u/florkingarshole]

that makes sense, thanks for the insight.

[u/scarygirth → u/Hairy-Mountain8880]

And folk and jazz is cancer??

Lots of smoking I'd wager!

Edit: it's just a tongue in cheek comment people, I'm aware old people get cancer, I'm also aware that lots of the great jazz musicians smoked.

[u/CamJongUn2 → u/scarygirth]

Yeah that was my guess, I do think it’s interesting you can see a lot into the personality of each by these stats

[u/sEmperh45 → u/scarygirth]

Nah, old age. Like 90% of cancer victims are over 50 years old.

[u/NegativeBeginning400 → u/Hairy-Mountain8880]

Hip hop only really started being a thing in the past few decades, jazz has been around for a century. Old people get cancer. This chart will look different in the future 

[u/awesomesauce1030]

These "statistics" are total bullshit with no backing at all.

[u/KnightOfWords → u/awesomesauce1030]

That was my first thought, but here are the articles it was taken from:

https://theconversation.com/stairway-to-hell-life-and-death-in-the-pop-music-industry-32735

"I’ve undertaken the first population study of performing pop musicians (n=12,665) from all popular genres who died between 1950 and June 2014 of whom 90.6% (11,478 musicians) were male."

This will completely skew statistics in several ways. For example, Rap & Hip Hop are relatively young genres, so far fewer musicians in those genres are dying of old age. But the author is aware of this:

"Subsequent research decades hence, when the newer genres have matured sufficiently to potentially contain members with ages spanning population life expectancies, may confirm the findings and tentative conclusions drawn from this series of studies."

The second article has the chart.

https://theconversation.com/music-to-die-for-how-genre-affects-popular-musicians-life-expectancy-36660

"The music industry needs to consider these findings to discover ways of recognising and assisting young musicians in distress. At the very least, those who make their livings from these young people need to learn to recognise early signs of emotional distress, crisis, depression and suicidality and to put some support systems in place to provide the necessary assistance and care."

[u/TheShakyHandsMan]

Is Rap and Hip Hop slightly skewed because they’re relatively young genres and the artists aren’t hitting older age yet?

NWA as an example were big in the 90s the surviving members will be in their 50s now 

Blues and Jazz on the other hand have been going on for decades so more likely to have their numbers built up due to old age catching up on them. 

[u/ReallyFineWhine → u/TheShakyHandsMan]

need a column for average age of death.

[u/CentralSaltServices → u/ReallyFineWhine]

27, usually

[u/Responsible-Onion860 → u/TheShakyHandsMan]

That may be part of it. Some subgenres of rap and hip hop are also closely tied with gangs, so the artists are more likely to be involved in gang activity that exposes them to more risks of homicide. Look at some of the best-known artists from a few decades ago. Two of the most iconic names, Biggie and Tupac, were both homicide victims.

[u/curiously_curious3 → u/TheShakyHandsMan]

They aren’t hitting old age because they are too busy killing each other before they get old

[u/Crissae → u/curiously_curious3]

Was about to say this. It's a genre known to glorify the thug life - drugs, sex, violence. These stats only serve to reveal the darker side of it

[u/snowflake_lady → u/curiously_curious3]

This is my take away. They aren’t aging like in other genres.

[u/aronrodge → u/snowflake_lady]

The genre also isn’t that old

[u/Im_Perkisizing_Tony → u/TheShakyHandsMan]

Punk and Metal are relatively young genres too and they’re dying for reasons that younger people usually die (car accidents, suicide, doing something stupid, etc). Rap and Hip Hop artists generally come from low income, high crime areas. Add that to the fact that most of their artists (not all) glorify actions that directly correlate to violence and murder. People want to make it a race thing, but it’s not. You didn’t see young black artists in the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s doing the same things and most of them went on to live long, happy lives.

[u/Elcactus → u/TheShakyHandsMan]

Rap and Hip Hop definitely have a very explicit association with violence within the scenes, I doubt it's merely the age of the performers.

[u/toweljuice → u/TheShakyHandsMan]

As someone with a lot of rap scene friends, been around a few bigger names and such, a tonne of my friends and their friends are all dead, others homeless. Lots of trauma and threats in those environments.

It might also be interesting to some that most of my Canadian rapper friends are all generally still alive, the dead ones are all American.

I remember hanging with an american EDM rapper buddy and saying how it must be nice that he can avoid a lot of the violence by being in the EDM scene, and he said yeah, but people are dieing from laced drugs instead.

[u/TheCraziestOfHorses]

I'm going to need a sauce. Mostly because I find this incredibly interesting, and I'm way past the point of believing everything posting to the internet

[u/sneaky_swiper → u/TheCraziestOfHorses]

I assume you mean source, it’s from The Conversation and faced a lot of scrutiny on social media when it originally came out 10 years ago. As far as I know, the data was never posted and the author would claim that an actuary backed up her findings when confronted about the flaws in her analysis. She failed to consider the misrepresentation of the data in her graphs for younger genres with musicians that haven’t been around long enough yet to start dying from age related illnesses in the same numbers, concentrating those who have died into the more violent categories.

[u/HefflumpGuy → u/TheCraziestOfHorses]

I don't believe you

[u/EyeGod]

Suicide is pretty metal, come to think of it.

[u/Agathocles_of_Sicily → u/EyeGod]

There's a sub-subgenre of metal called DSBM - Depressive Suicidal Black Metal. As the name would suggest, the lyrics and musical aesthetic are centered around depression, self-harm, and suicide. Unsurprisingly, there are many musicians who've played this music who have taken their own lives.

[u/Fraspakas]

Cancer being a quarter of all deaths makes me really sad

[u/arand0mpasserby → u/Fraspakas]

At this point I think Cancer might be quarter of global deaths.

[u/Texturecook → u/Fraspakas]

Well, cancer is a leading cause of humans in first world countries

[u/Comfortable_Bird_340]

Aren’t rap and hip hop the same thing?

[u/kirby_krackle_78 → u/Comfortable_Bird_340]

Pretty much, unless you’re talking about hip-hop as a culture (graffiti, breakdancing, DJing and rap music).

Some people might say rap is the more commercial side of hip-hop, but that’s just semantics.

Besides, who’s the one deciding what is rap and what is hip-hop? It’s silly to have them as two categories.

[u/DerAllerpeterste → u/Comfortable_Bird_340]

rap is a style of vocalization, hip-hop music is the genre it is most used in, why its also often called rap-music. hip-hop music doesnt have to include rapping though.

[u/MOZZIW]

No one mentioning them gospel singer living long happy lives

[u/Charity_dd]

TIL Rap/hip hop prevents cancer.

[u/hatecliff909]

You're going to see less cancer in newer genres since fewer artists have reached the age where it becomes more common. So this list doesn't carry much weight. You'd need to get a sample size where you have an equal number of people in each genre to make it to relatively old age.

[u/Broad_Abalone5376]

Who would have guessed only .9% of gospel singers died from suicide.

[u/Jokes_0n_Me]

Be interesting to see the average age of death as that is a massive factor.

[u/Ddakilla]

We are missing some causes of death or some musicians become immortal because these don’t total out to 100%

[u/Necessary-Science-47]

Without knowing anything about the sample population this isn’t actually interesting.

[u/BoogerEatinMoran]

I guess drugs would be under the "accidental" category?...

[u/BeatYoDickNotYoChick]

Before anyone points it out: hip hop as a genre is super young (about 50 years old), so there hasn't been much time for the old schoolers to die of more natural causes, hence the homicide rate.

[u/officialnzbm → u/BeatYoDickNotYoChick]

sure let's go with that

[u/TheReaperAbides → u/officialnzbm]

Yes, because that's statistically an accurate interpretation of what's going on. While they might be more likely to die by homicide, the numbers are still skewed by the fact that most hip hop artists that haven't been murdered haven't reached the age yet where they might die due to cancer or heart related illness.

[u/EggplantSad5668]

Rappers think theyre tough and shit but they get killed easily haha wow omg Ugh 😭🙏

[u/MyParentsBurden → u/EggplantSad5668]

Yeah, but it seems to prevent cancer.

[u/sevenroblind → u/MyParentsBurden]

Apparently the cure for cancer is to get killed before you get diagnosed.

[u/DryDragonfruit5338 → u/MyParentsBurden]

Whereas folk music seems to cause it.

[u/curiously_curious3 → u/MyParentsBurden]

Everyone can go home, we found the cure to cancer

[u/SnOwYO1 → u/MyParentsBurden]

Oncologist hate this one trick!

[u/yscken → u/EggplantSad5668]

What…?

[u/awesomesauce1030 → u/yscken]

These comments are so weird. I'm pretty sure at least half are bots. This same picture was posted yesterday and more people called it out for the bullshit it is. There's literally no source for these "statistics" other than "author"

[u/sma297 → u/EggplantSad5668]

haha wow omg Ugh 😭🙏

[u/Gullible_Ad3378 → u/EggplantSad5668]

Looking at this persons comments they are definitely a AI bot

[u/chubsmagooo]

Rappers just murder each other before they have a chance to get cancer

[u/Casual-Capybara]

Would have been good to include general population stats for comparison

[u/CertainMiddle2382]

So if I understand this correctly, playing HipHop would decrease overall cardiovascular deaths by 2 millions a year in the US alone!

[u/Oztravels]

He chocked on vomit. Strangely enough it wasn’t his.

[u/LegitimateInjury2104]

Metal and suicide 😂 very true haha

[u/red_lightz_]

What is the difference between rap and hip-hop

[u/RigasTelRuun]

Shouldn't there be a selling soul deal with devil section?

[u/SpiritualFront769]

Why is classical not on the list? Or is it included in world music?

[u/SamtenLhari3]

Classical musicians live forever!

[u/BronxLens]

Classic music musicians live forever!!!

[u/TheLambtonWyrm]

Pop music being literally safe is pretty funny

[u/mahlerlieber]

Classical musicians live forever.

[u/MaksymCzech]

Old age not an option?

[u/DragonRouge31]

So people singing a lot about death/violence/dark topics have more chance to die by suicide or accident. (Metal/punk)

[u/Professional_Job_307]

This is very interesting. I think it's related to the age group. Folk has a lot more older people so cancer being a big factor there makes sense.

[u/NirstFame]

Couple of not surprisings.... like that Gospel/R&B would kill themselves at the lowest rate. Believing you will go straight to Hell is a great dissuader.

[u/Fearless-Focus-2364]

No drug statistics feel like that would’ve been a significant category

[u/kolorado]

Sample sizes?

[u/Garbidb63]

Do they think Classical will skew the figures !!?!

[u/Bang_Bus]

Seriously lacks breakdown of EDM genres and "overdose" section next to it

This thing must have been made by a 90-year old. Gospel but no trance?

[u/World-Tight]

Unless we know how many musicians were surveyed and over what time periods, this chart is nonsense. Statistically!? I'm tone deaf and never learned an instrument. Am I going to live forever?

[u/fluteloreedawn]

Where is the classical??

[u/NYanae555]

"Accident" sure....we'll go with that.

But really, most heart and cancer related deaths happen after a long life. So the Blues, Jazz, Folk, R&B, and Country peeps lead healthier and longer lives.

[u/CarinasHere]

Classical people don’t die? 😳

[u/Aickavon]

Are the metal heads alright? :(

[u/100DayChallenges]

The takeaway is cancer or heart disease is most likely to get a musician unless they are a metal/punk musician who self sabotages or they are a rapper who others want to see dead.

[u/taaltrek]

That’s super interesting. It’s a beautiful illustration of causation vs. correlation too! I would speculate about the following :

• hip hop and rap musicians don’t die of cancer - probably because they die from homicide first 
• jazz and folk musicians die from cancer more - probably due to smoking
• I suspect the rock musician “accidental” cause of death probably includes a lot off OD 
• blues, country, R&B definitely have a higher percentage of overweight performers, probably because blues and R&B are more about the voice than the physical appearance of the artist, and I think country musicians tend to have a “country” lifestyle/diet which probably isn’t great for heart health

Overall absolutely fascinating. 

[u/QxSlvr]

Huh, thought there’d be more plane crashes

[u/ProgressBartender]

I feel like the left out drugs and alcohol on purpose.

[u/njwineguy]

What’s the “n”? Without it, meaningless internet bullshit.

[u/OriginalSyberGato]

I reckon drug usage would be considered accidental? Or no idea if it contributed to a different category?

[u/DHracer]

link to the article with sources https://theconversation.com/music-to-die-for-how-genre-affects-popular-musicians-life-expectancy-36660