There is a saying that rock and roll stars live on the edge and drive in the fast lane. Jimi Hendrix, Elvis Presley, Kurt Cobain of Nirvana, and Michael Hutchence of INXS did just that. They were music icons who lived on the edge. Sad to say, their fame and fortune also led to their untimely deaths. What's more alarming is these stars die a few years after achieving fame. News of rock stars and other music icons dying young is alarming, because their deaths are associated with substance overdose.

A recent study conducted in Liverpool John Moores University showed that 1,050 American and European artists or so-called ?icons? died earlier than average people. Of the 100 stars that died from 1956 to 2005, majority of these American ?music icons? died at the age of 42 on average, while those from Europe passed away at 35 years of age. The reason? Unhealthy lifestyle, improper diet, drug addiction, and alcohol and substance abuse. In addition, part of the dilemma is living with the stress and anxiety associated with fame.

According to the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, drug and alcohol are the primary causes of many deaths of music stars, which accounted for one in every four deaths. Alcohol damages the body in many ways. It can affect the brain and can lead to poor coordination, faulty judgment, slowed reflexes, distorted vision, memory lapses, and blackouts. Alcohol can damage many organs in the body. It is absorbed directly in the bloodstream and raises the risk of acquiring life-threatening ailments like cancer. Extremely high doses of alcohol can even cause alcohol poisoning, coma, or even death.

It is a fact that many celebrities and music personalities are involved in the repeated and excessive use of drugs and substances. High doses of many illegal drugs can cause immediate life-threatening problems like heart attack, respiratory failure, and coma. The combination of drugs and alcohol are extremely dangerous. In addition, some drugs can have dangerous interactions with alcohol. The human body can only handle so many toxins at once, this is the reason why illegal drugs should not be taken with alcohol. There are times that drug can chemically interact with alcohol, when taken with alcohol it disperses faster in the bloodstream and take effect faster. These are the reasons why alcohol and drug overdose is one of the leading cause of death among music icons and many individuals.

The number of rock stars who died and are dying at a young age is cause of alarm for society because many artists are influential among children and young people. They want to be like them?the rock gods. The young people hero-worship them. They buy their albums, watch their concerts, and even try to dress like them. A lot young people want to be like rock stars. They want fame, money, and other expensive stuff. Young people of today want to be rock stars more than anything else. They want to sing loud songs, strum the guitars to produce loud music, and beat the drums real hard. The young people want to experience the euphoria that these rock icons claim they feel whenever they're on stage. Sad to say, all the fame, fortune, and money were not able to change the fact that many rock stars and music icons died early.

Jimi Hendrix, Elvis Presley, Kurt Cobain, and Michael Hutchence What went wrong? Were they overwhelmed by fame that they lost control of reality and turned to drugs and other banned substances? It is clear that these rock stars were not happy at all. Death in some ways make people more interesting and famous than they were still alive. However, dead rock stars are reminders of the pain and depression that may take place as side effects of fame.