Fame May Shorten Lifespans of Singers, Study Suggests

Famous singers in Europe and North America appear to die roughly four years earlier then singers who haven’t reached that level of notoriety, and fame itself could be a contributing factor to a higher mortality risk.

This is the conclusion of an observational study – meaning it doesn’t prove cause and effect – led by Witten/Herdecke University in Germany, published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health, part of the BMJ group.

“By comparing famous and less famous singers with similar backgrounds, this study suggests that fame, in itself, may contribute to an increased risk of mortality, beyond the risks associated with being a professional musician,” the study reports.

The results showed that famous singers had a 33% higher risk of mortality compared to their less famous counterparts.

Researchers retrospectively compared the risk of death among 648 singers, with half achieving celebrity status and the other half remaining less well-known.

The celebrity sample was sourced from the acclaimedmusic.net database.The researchers focused on singers active between 1950 and 1990 to gather sufficient follow-up data on mortality risk as of December 31, 2023.