Facing the music (From The Northern Echo)

Facing the music

4:51pm Monday 13th February 2012 in Latest Features

IN many ways, the saddest thing about the death of American singer Whitney Houston is that it could hardly be regarded as a surprise.

Houston was pronounced dead in the early hours of yesterday after her body was discovered in the bathroom of her hotel room in Los Angeles, and the precise cause of her death is still to be confirmed.

Whatever happened in her final hours though, the latter years of the 48-year-old’s life were an all-toofamiliar tale of drug use that rapidly spiralled out of control.

She confessed to abusing cocaine, marijuana and pills, her public appearances became increasingly erratic and her once-pristine voice became raspy and hoarse, seriously diminshing her ability to perform.

The world of popular music is littered with examples of stars who succumbed in a similar manner, and only last year, British music fans were mourning the loss of Amy Winehouse, another troubled soul who had a destructive relationship with drugs and alcohol.

To some, it is the rock and roll way.

But what kind of an example do we set to the next generation if we tolerate such behaviour as the inevitable consequence of success in the music industry?

Why do we tacitly accept that musicians will be tempted into a lifestyle we would consider abhorrent in any other walk of life?

Footballers, we are regularly told, should be role models. Musicians, on the other hand, are permitted to live by different rules.

That should not diminish the sadness at Houston’s passing. She was one of the most successful female artists of all time and an inspiration to many.

But is it not time to critically examine the relationship between drug and alcohol abuse and the music industry?

As a society, should we not be doing something to prevent the damage being caused to so many bright and talented individuals?