Conspiracy Theories Ignore Music Artist’s Mental Health
I remember the moment when Chester Bennington, the lead singer of Linkin Park, died by suicide. I experienced a lot of angst growing up, both as a stereotypical teenager and especially as a loner. His music helped me through some of my emotions. I had also experienced extreme depression, so it felt like a gut punch to see someone who seemingly had it all was actually still miserable.
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A few years later, I overheard a coworker talking about how she didn’t believe Chester killed himself, and that it was a “setup” to get more record sales. It seems to be an often-used point in these conversations. Nonetheless, he was very vocal about his problems, both in his music and in the many interviews he did. Chester’s friend – Chris Connell from Audioslave – had also succumbed to suicide just months prior. In times like this, believing conspiracy theories dismisses the pain and turmoil that the artist would’ve been experiencing.
Donny Hathaway suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, a rare illness that causes symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions. He was known for not keeping track of his medications. When he died by suicide, many assumed he was murdered because he owed money to the mob. While this could possibly have been a factor, why is the immediate go-to that he was murdered? I’ve wondered if this case feeds into the notion that black people do not die by suicide.
Donny Hathaway by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
The concept of the tortured artist believes that great art must come from great pain, and that an artist, especially from a marginalized population, will be more open about their struggles.This was the case with the death of Amy Winehouse, who succumbed to alcohol poisoning. Like many other artists, she was very vocal about her struggles with mental health as well as with drugs and alcohol.
According to a 2018 study, nearly 75% of musical artists surveyed suffered from some from of a mental health issue, compared with less than a quarter of the general population, turning their pain into consumption. Less than 40% of those surveyed sought treatment, while over half used self-medicated with drugs or alcohol, which ties into the closely linked relationship with mental illness and substance abuse. This is further compounded by the “gig economy” of the industry. As record sales have plummeted over the last decades, and record labels and online distributors take the lion’s share of money from streaming, artists have been forced to tour to make an income.
Constantly touring and promoting – things that were usually the work of the record companies – have a destabilizing effect on artists, who may already suffer from poor habits, feelings of loneliness, and strained relationships. It also doesn’t help that these companies also tend to promote a sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll lifestyle, according to Christine Brown, a director of affairs at the UK’s HMUK group.
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Through existing research, we know that people who believe in conspiracies tend to feel like they have a loss of control over their lives. Knowing that there is someone or a group of people – in this case, record executives or even the Illuminati – who pull the strings gives them a sense of peace, as opposed to believing that something may just be random, or have a simpler explanation.
The idea that an artist is worth more dead than alive is also very tantalizing, and maybe it’s true. We tend to glamorize fame and deify celebrities, forgetting that they are also human; we only know what their brand chooses to show us. Of course, the media feeds off of and sensationalizes problems, and is inclined to rigorously share these problems. It gets more eyes on the screen or papers.
Like the tortured artist concept, some artists believe that if they are not suffering in some form, then their craft will suffer. Some may ignore seeking therapy because the idea of being stable sounds like the end to their career.
With the amount of stress that goes into dealing with the industry and fame, believing an artist’s death is due to a conspiracy theory deprives the artist of being a fully-realized human being. Thankfully, more and more artists have been speaking out about their own mental health issues, and even the industry has begun turning a new leaf.
