PRESSURES OF THE INDUSTRY
Written by Helen Freitas, Carly Dohner, Jaz Brown
It’s no secret the pressure celebrities are faced with being in the limelight, but can these pressures lead musicians to cause harm to themselves? In the past few years, recording artists like Lil Peep, XXXTentacion, Whitney Houston, Prince, Amy Winehouse and Mac Miller have all lost their lives from the celebrity pressures and expectations. It is almost a given that many musicians feel the pressures in the music industry and will then turn to using substances to try and escape.
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| Mac Miller performs live on stage during the second day of Lollapalooza Brazil Festival, March 24, 2018 Mauricio Santana/Getty Images |
Motley Crue
In 2019, a Netflix original movie, “The Dirt”, showcases the lifestyle of famous rock band Motley Crue. Motley Crue rose to fame in the 1980’s with many controversies, however one of the most well known facts about this band that they have since spoken about was their use of drugs. Nikki Sixx, guitarist and songwriter for Motley Crue, actually overdosed on heroin, died, and then came back to life. “The Dirt” presented this event in the movie and showed how the lifestyle of “Rock and Roll” entails a lifestyle of partying, drinking and using drugs. Many musicians incorporate the use of drugs and alcohol into their music
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| The Dirt is a documentary about Motley Crue, a band infamous for their drug usage. Directed by Jeff Tremaine. |
Bieber's Story
Justin Bieber was discovered when he was only 13 years old, so he pretty much grew up in the music industry. In a recent interview, Justin Bieber got candid in front of the camera with his new YouTube documentary called “Seasons.” Bieber spoke about his daily routine with incorporating drugs into his life and he said the second he would wake up in the morning he would pop pills and smoke a blunt. In his documentary, Bieber also admitted to using Molly and Mushrooms as a means to escape from the pressures he lived with being in the public eye to millions of fans with an emphasis on a younger audience. Bieber is now sober and he said, “And for all of the followers that need to benefit from the music that I make — I can’t do it if I’m not wholesome,” he additionally said. “I haven’t been wholesome for a very long time.” Bieber is on the road to recovery and has become an advocate for young artists because he himself grew up in this industry and knows the pressures artists feel when being looked up to from their audience.
Alcoholism
Artists like Macklemore, Keith Urban, Lana Del Ray and Elton John have all risen above alcoholism and now are examples for others in the industry to look up to. Macklemore relapsed from being sober for 3 years in 2008 and is an advocate for starting over. Macklemore has spoken about the constant uphill journey it is for being sober and that if you relapse it is okay, but in order to grow as a person you will have to keep moving and try to be your best self. Elton John has also come forward about his previous addictions to alcohol and drugs and has since expressed his regrets with using drugs.
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| Macklemore is an advocate for battling alcoholism and is outspoken about "starting over" |
It seems undeniable that the music industry puts pressure on artists to consume drugs and alcohol often to a point of tragedy. These tragedies are often just brushed off as "how things are" but we believe that there should be a closer examination of how the industry pressures artist, especially young artists, and what can be done to make it a more safe environment.
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