Now this may sound a little obvious, but scientists have apparently proved that if you want a long and happy life, you might want to avoid selecting rock star as your occupation of choice.
According to a study published in today's issue of the specialist medical publication the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, rock and pop stars are more than twice as likely as the rest of us to die an early death. They are particularly at risk of dropping dead within a few years of becoming famous.
The findings are based on more than 1,050 North American and European musicians and singers who "shot to fame" between 1956 and 1999 and are published under the snappy heading Elvis to Eminem: quantifying the price of fame through early mortality of European and North American rock and pop stars.
All the musicians featured in the All Time Top 1000 albums, selected in 2000, and covering rock, punk, rap, R&B, electronica and new age genres. How long the pop stars survived once they had achieved chart success and become famous was compared with the expected longevity of the general population, matched for age, sex, ethnicity and nationality, up to the end of 2005.
In all, 100 stars died between 1956 and 2005. The average age of death was 42 for North American stars and 35 for European stars.
Not surprisingly, long-term drug or alcohol problems accounted for more than one in four of the deaths. Compared with the rest of the population in the UK and the US, rock and pop stars were around twice as likely to die early and even more likely to do so within five years of becoming famous.
If this all sounds pretty grim, then in the grand scheme of things rock star looks like a doddle compared with some jobs. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, American timber cutters are something like 26 times as likely to die as the average worker, while workers in the fishing industry aren't far behind.
A report by CNN which lists the top ten most dangerous jobs in America reckons that the danger inherent in such occupations is compensated by high wages. Perhaps as labouring jobs go, wood cutters get a good deal on US$60,000 (£30,000), but it seems precious little compared with the risks – not to say, compared with a rock star.
Still, at least it is not all bad news for the ageing rockers. Some 25 years after achieving fame, European pop stars returned to the same levels of life expectancy as the rest of the population. If we were just talking Cliff Richard here, no-one would be greatly surprised. But what accounts for Keith Richards?
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