Fame can take as many years off a musician's life as occasionally smoking cigarettes, a new study has found, after comparing data between famous singers and less well-known artists.
Stardom can shorten lives by 4.6 years, according to research published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.
Touring, performing, and rock'n'roll lifestyles have previously been found to lower life expectancy for musicians.
However, the new analysis shows a direct link between fame and mortality for the first time.
Researchers from the University Witten Herdecke based in Witten, Germany, examined data of 648 singers, half of whom were dubbed famous and the other half less famous. These included a mix of solo artists, lead and back-up singers in a band.
