How Can Musicians Allow This To Happen to Themselves?

[Morgan Rudolph]

Not sure why Scarlet's comment touched a nerve. She pretty much nailed the root cause of most bankruptcies in the entertainment business. It's a cliché' of the young wide eyed entertainer that gets "discovered". They are treated like the boy king or pretty princess as long they are raking in cash for their corporate sponsors. They are jetted around and provided with every excess they can imagine. When their moment in the sun is over, they realize far too late that all the money they were making went to corporations. Many still owe their pimps millions once their fame is gone.

It's very difficult to maintain good judgment when they are being plied with drugs, sex, & luxury while simultaneously sold on a ruthless touring/recording schedule.

On a lighter note - My husband and I saw Leonard Cohen last year. God, he was amazing. His voice was crystal clear and sharp as a fallen angel. During "If it be your will" he dropped down on one knee and came back up with perfect poise and balance. At 78, that's incredible.

[Patrycja]

It's a strange twist of fate that such a malicious act turned into renewed creative vigor and unabashed love from critics and fans alike. In a recent interview to promote his latest album, "Popular Problems," Leonard said that although being bilked of most of his savings was distressing, he is now grateful that it happened because it set him on this third act journey filled with new albums, world tours, and joy. This doesn't in any way, of course, minimize or excuse what was done to him, but to his credit, his response to such a dire situation has reaped these results. And to think when he started, he wasn't sure whether he still had an audience. He was essentially pushed into a leap of faith, but was able to take it because of the body of work and talents and habits he had honed throughout his career. Oh, and in that interview Leoanrd also revealed that he is working on a new album Leonard Cohen is the real deal.

Not sure why Scarlet's comment touched a nerve. She pretty much nailed the root cause of most bankruptcies in the entertainment business. It's a cliché' of the young wide eyed entertainer that gets "discovered". They are treated like the boy king or pretty princess as long they are raking in cash for their corporate sponsors. They are jetted around and provided with every excess they can imagine. When their moment in the sun is over, they realize far too late that all the money they were making went to corporations. Many still owe their pimps millions once their fame is gone.

It's very difficult to maintain good judgment when they are being plied with drugs, sex, & luxury while simultaneously sold on a ruthless touring/recording schedule.

On a lighter note - My husband and I saw Leonard Cohen last year. God, he was amazing. His voice was crystal clear and sharp as a fallen angel. During "If it be your will" he dropped down on one knee and came back up with perfect poise and balance. At 78, that's incredible.

As to the topic in general, I think that most people are right. It's not either someone is a financial dummy or utterly naive or coddled. We have examples of all of them; some stars are fools and live beyond their means regardless of how much they have, and others simply trust that the people they have in place to, in this case, manage their finances, do their jobs

Stapp's situation seems to be complicated with what may be mental health/addiction issues, at least according to his soon-to-be-ex-wife. He's a young guy and can go on making a living, so hopefully he gets whatever help he needs to pull him through.

[Anjin-san]

Everybody's a dreamer and everybody's a star
And everybody's in show biz, it doesn't matter who you are
And those who are successful
Be always on your guard
Success walks hand in hand with failure
Along Hollywood Boulevard

[Charles J. White]

Everybody's a dreamer and everybody's a star

And everybody's in show biz, it doesn't matter who you are

And those who are successful

Be always on your guard

Success walks hand in hand with failure

Along Hollywood Boulevard

That is fucking great bit!!!

[ScarletMacaw]

I don't understand how this thread started with a post about Scott Stapp. Isn't he psychotic? People with severe mental illness sometimes do crazy things with their money, because, well, they're crazy. I haven't been following the story, but he could have burned his money (literally), given it away, or spent it all in a myriad of ways. I wonder where the milk of human kindness is in some of the posters on this forum...I feel nothing but pity for someone who is apparently as psychotic as Stapp is.

[Disco Duck]

I don't understand how this thread started with a post about Scott Stapp. Isn't he psychotic? People with severe mental illness sometimes do crazy things with their money, because, well, they're crazy. I haven't been following the story, but he could have burned his money (literally), given it away, or spent it all in a myriad of ways. I wonder where the milk of human kindness is in some of the posters on this forum...I feel nothing but pity for someone who is apparently as psychotic as Stapp is.

Yes, if Stapp has severe mental health problems that would certainly explain a lot. I agree that many of the posts on this thread seemed rather harsh. I don't know enough about Stapp to say that he blew his money on drugs or expensive toys. Does anyone else here know more about him than I do?

[planted]

I don't understand how this thread started with a post about Scott Stapp. Isn't he psychotic? People with severe mental illness sometimes do crazy things with their money, because, well, they're crazy. I haven't been following the story, but he could have burned his money (literally), given it away, or spent it all in a myriad of ways. I wonder where the milk of human kindness is in some of the posters on this forum...I feel nothing but pity for someone who is apparently as psychotic as Stapp is.

IF he is mentally ill then one must assume he had enough money and resources available to him to get the help he needs..it IS 2014.

[Disco Duck]

IF he is mentally ill then one must assume he had enough money and resources available to him to get the help he needs..it IS 2014.

Perhaps his mental illness has impaired his judgement and cognitive functioning to the point that he doesn't realize how sick he is. This maybe why his estranged wife is trying to force him to get help.

[IpMan]

I would say poor judgement: I have a bank account, I have a house, and so on. At the end of the day, it's up to me to examine my bank account, and every month I get a statement from the bank telling me where my money went and it's up to me to read that statement. It's also up to me to have a regular updates with my financial investor. I'm shocked when I read about people hiring drivers, doormen, cleaners, owning 100 ft yachts, and 3 or 10 houses and so on. Maybe if they just cleaned there own house like the rest of the little people that $25 million would last a lifetime. I don't know, I don't get it, maybe there is something in a rock star's constitution of truly not understanding basic math statements like $1 minus $1= $0. I don't get it, I really don't.

Holy shit Chuck, that post was so spot on...that shit got my dick hard!!!

[ScarletMacaw]

IF he is mentally ill then one must assume he had enough money and resources available to him to get the help he needs..it IS 2014.

OMG.

It's called "mental illness" because the people don't have the mental faculties to know what they are doing! That's why many psychiatric hospitalizations are involuntary!

[wanna be drummer]

That sounds like a cop-out excuse.

It's not a cop out. I'm just saying that managing wealth - true wealth - is far different to managing someone of middle-class income. I'm not excusing one's personal responsibility to manage their funds, but it's really not as simple as you think.

To paraphrase George Harrison, We'd ask our accountants if we were millionaires yet and they would tell us on paper that we were.

[redrum]

You think the money is finite. Well, it's not.------Ginger Baker

[JP78]

i don't know much about this guy and how quickly he became wealthy but i think most of his problems go back to drug use and other personal shit.

but i was thinking of those people who win the lottery. they would win some millions and suddenly they start buying all this crap without considering how they have to continually pay for things like property taxes and other fees when they buy their private plane, multiple homes etc.

it's not like large corporation ceos, actors and other wealthy types who continually have money coming in regularly .

these people could have instead bought a decent home, even a couple cars and easily replace them in 10-15 years and lived comfortably for the rest of their lives . but they start thinking they are on the level of the top ceos .

it's not difficult but a lot of people are just stupid .

[Pagefan55]

^^

It's true. We had a lottery winner go bankrupt here in Virginia last year. He won 45 million dollars and then didn't even hire a financial planner/investment advisor to help him invest and manage his money. It took him 5 years to blow through it all.

[Anjin-san]

http://www.bostonherald.com/inside_track/celebrity_news/2014/12/creed_frontmans_wife_seeking_divorce_help

[Disco Duck]

i don't know much about this guy and how quickly he became wealthy but i think most of his problems go back to drug use and other personal shit.

but i was thinking of those people who win the lottery. they would win some millions and suddenly they start buying all this crap without considering how they have to continually pay for things like property taxes and other fees when they buy their private plane, multiple homes etc.

it's not like large corporation ceos, actors and other wealthy types who continually have money coming in regularly .

these people could have instead bought a decent home, even a couple cars and easily replace them in 10-15 years and lived comfortably for the rest of their lives . but they start thinking they are on the level of the top ceos .

it's not difficult but a lot of people are just stupid .

It's hard to imagine that someone could blow through 45 million dollars in five years but I know it happens. Of course, the IRS would have taken its share off the top so just because the guy won 45 million doesn't mean he actually received 45 million. I remember listening to an interview with a financial adviser who worked with NFL players. He said that players don't wind up broke for the reasons most fans would suspect; buying expensive cars, child support lawsuits, etc. The two chief culprits are divorce and bad business investments.