A Mega-Talent Thrown Away - Whitney Houston RIP

[Guest fountainhall]

And so the world mourns the death of yet another mega star who abused her extraordinary talent with all manner of neglect and substance abuse. At the same time she was descending into a hell where ‘the voice’ became all but threadbare, not even a pale imitation of what it had once been, but a raspy, hoarse instrument.

 

Would that she had taken a leaf out of the careers of her godmother, the great Aretha Franklin, and her cousin, the equally great Dionne Warwick, both of whom have had far longer careers. Why, I wonder, is it that so many of the younger pop divas fail to realise that their voice is probably the most fragile of all instruments, dependent on two tiny membranes in their throats? Stress, smoking, burning the candle at both ends and all the celebrity parties inevitably take their toll.

 

And why can pop divas not look more carefully at their operatic counterparts? They generally earn a good deal less money overall but, with very few exceptions - Maria Callas being one - they take far more care of their instruments. Whilst operatic sopranos will generally start to lose some of their voice as they enter their 60s, a diva like Kiri Te Kanawa is still singing around the world in her late 60s. And tenor superstar Placido Domingo, a man known to enjoy all that life can offer, is still performing on the world's major opera stages at the age of 71.

 

Mind you, I remain a huge fan of Tony Bennett who is still going strong at 85. Just a few hours or so ago at the pre-Grammy party, he dedicated a song to “Whitney, the greatest singer I ever heard in my life.”

 

Very sad!

[Bob]

A beautiful woman and beautiful voice basically committing a form of suicide for decades. Her demons no longer torment her but the the entire saga (the abusive relationships and the substantial abuse of drugs and alcohol) remains puzzling, sad, and pathetic to me.

[KhorTose]

No different then others I have loved. Janice Joplion, Jimmy Hendricks, Kurt Kolbain, Jim Morrison and i could mention Elvis, but I never liked him that much. For a real eye opening go to this wiki page and see all the drug related deaths among artist. The talent to create and entertain may well have a down side of personality disorders that lead to addictive behavior.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_drug-related_deaths

[Guest fountainhall]

Maybe it’s useful to remember that early death – natural or by some form of misadventure - is not the exclusive preserve of the world of pop music, nor the 20^th and 21^st centuries. Classical music has had its fair share of early, and sometimes strange, deaths.

 

Franz Schubert – he of the Unfinished Symphony – died at 31, almost certainly of tertiary syphilis. Beethoven died somewhat older at 57, a result also of syphilis perhaps, but more recently of what has been claimed to be lead poisoning, partly due to ministrations of his doctor and partly a result of his habit of licking his lead pencils. Mendelssohn – the famous Bridal March – suffered from nervous problems and died after a series of strokes aged 38.

 

One of the most prolific composers of all time, Mozart was a noted hypochondriac and is often thought to have died from ingesting too may different medications. Others reckon it was rheumatic fever or a result of a streptococcal infection. He was just 36.

 

Yet another popular composer, Chopin died aged 39, probably of TB but perhaps also of syphilis. Robert Schumann, too, may have suffered from syphilis (some early biographies added he suffered from “excessive masturbation” ), but he also became mentally ill. Following a suicide attempt in 1854, he was confined to a lunatic asylum where he died two years later aged 46.

 

One of the most famous deaths was that of Tchaikovsky. A homosexual in a country where it was illegal although frequently indulged, public exposure carried harsh consequences. It was thought until recently that he died of cholera at age 53. However, one theory that has gained considerable credibility in recent years is that he was forced to commit suicide after becoming involved with the nephew of a powerful Duke, an affair that came to the notice of the Tsar. A group of the young man’s colleagues at the College of Law in St. Petersburg formed an “honour court” which ordered Tchaikovsky to commit suicide or be publicly exposed.

 

Tchaikovsky was subject to fits of melancholy and self-loathing about his sexuality throughout his life. The searing final movement of his last symphony (No. 6), completed just ten days before his death, gives an almost explicit musical description of his emotional turbulence at the time, his desire to fight, and ultimately his acceptance of his fate. The symphony is known as the Pathétique – the meaning being not “pathetic”, but in its Russian context “impassioned suffering”.

 

Perhaps the silliest was the death of French composer Jean-Baptiste Lully in 1687 at the age of 55. Another libertine who enjoyed the company of both sexes (including, it is said, an illicit affair with the Sun King himself), Lully was conducting one of his own works at court. In those days conductors used a long stick similar to those now used by military bandmasters. At a moment of emotional intensity, Lully gave an over-exuberant downbeat and speared his foot. The wound became infected leading to his death. Alas, poor Lully!

[kokopelli]

So many famous names of those who died so early. Not mentioned was Bobby Driscoll. You must remember him? Young Jim Hawkins of Treasure Island fame. As a youth I longed to be a cabin boy with Long John Silver as my mentor. No doubt he was called that for a very good reason!

 

Bobby Driscoll was a child actor who later turned to drugs and alcohol and died at about age 30 in an abandoned house in NYC. His remains are in a potters field in NYC but a cenotaph in his memory is in Oceanside, CA, where I once resided.

[Guest thaiworthy]

Bobby Driscoll was a child actor who later turned to drugs and alcohol and died at about age 30 in an abandoned house in NYC. His remains are in a potters field in NYC but a cenotaph in his memory is in Oceanside, CA, where I once resided.

 

Bobby Driscoll once told the press, "I shall not return until I can be accepted as an actor

again, not a freak exhibit."