Why do rockstars celebrate their lifestyle consisting of mental illness and severe drug abuse?

[noname223]

I like to listen to Lil Peep also because of the fact he struggled a lot with mental illness. He had severe addiction issues in contrast to me. I cannot say for sure whether the drugs caused his illness or whether the abuse/illness caused his addiction. However I think he could have spared himself a lot of pain if he never started drugs. On the other hand side I could imagine he would have never become famous without them. I consider drugs as pretty bad and dangerous - though they can probably increase creativity in some way. And his lifestyle probably contributed to his status.

Sometimes I feel emotionally confused when I listen how much he celebrates his lifestyle. This leads probably to the fact that many more young people start doing drugs with severe side effects. And in many cases this does not end with becoming a rockstar - many of them end in the psychiatry or on the streets homeless.

But now comes the confusing feeling for me. I still get pretty comforted by his music. I can relate to a lot of things he describes. He also suffered from anxiety and social awkwardness. I feel so much better in public transport when I listen to his music. I have a weird thought. Maybe my lifestyle is a little bit similar to his. At least in a weird abstract way that can comfort me. I have bipolar and honestly I could well imagine Peep was bipolar too. Being manic or having manic symptoms can feel pretty good. And the highs are allegedly similar to a high you get from drugs. I have a lot of stress at college and I suffer of the pressure. Peep suffered also a lot because of performance pressure on his tours. I have to take addictive medication (so far I could dodge addiction) but I have to say Peep is right benzos can feel pretty pretty good. Especially if one has so much anxiety as me. I kind of have the feeling Peep consciously decided for that lifestyle. I would have blamed myself a lot in his position. Instead of despairing he endorsed his fate. In the end he died because of it.

I don't not have the feeling he regretted his decisions. And I kind of envy that. To live for the moment and not to ruminate about things you cannot change anyway.

Though I find the content of songs like Drugs on me (Pain glorified) completely nuts. It is funny how he can laugh about all of this. I would torture myself for all my decisions and he just says well fuck it I don't regret anything.

 

[Ultracheese]

I'm not very familiar with Lil Peep's work, but I (as many people probably do) listen to music by musicians who glamorize the lifestyle of sex, drugs, and rock and roll. There's a lot of different reasons musicians glamorize it, and a lot of it depends on the person/era/genre. In a lot of rock music, for instance, the lifestyle is glamorized so much because "that's just what you do" when you're in that sort of position. The debauchery of groups like Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, and Motley Crue are infamous and some tales have become urban legends at this point. I imagine a lot of younger musicians want to emulate their heroes and get sucked into that lifestyle. For some musicians, I imagine self-justification factors into it. They want to convince themselves that what they're doing is alright for them, or genuinely believe it. Mental illness can factor into that a lot, as you mention. It's a very complex issue, and no one answer can truly encompass what's going on in every musician's mind.