# Duff McKagan - Why is he alive?



## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

I find it amazing how some of these rock stars can do what they do and live, while the rest of us would drop dead. I stumbled across this interview last Friday and watched it all. Totally insane what this guy was doing and survived. But to his credit he finally got it turned around.

[video=youtube;J97j6o4eEIg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J97j6o4eEIg[/video]


----------



## marcos (Jan 13, 2009)

It amazes me that some people can consume alcohol and drugs to a point where it can kill them. I understand the addiction but dont understand the reason. If you are a famous person making a living out of doing something you love, why flush it all down the toilet. Hope he gets his act together and tries to remain sober for a while and see if he likes that instead of inflicting pain and misery upon himself,friends and familly.


----------



## Latiator (Jul 18, 2007)

I'm in amazement their resiliency. Slash's book divulges some pretty incredible stories of being on the brink of death and in one case, dying and being revived just to do it all again the next week. I had heard last year that scientist were studying Ozzy Osborne's blood to investigate how someone's body can withstand such abuse for so long without giving up the ghost. I wonder what's come of that study...


----------



## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

Must be something to it. I have two glasses of wine and I am wired. I can't imagine getting up on a stage and performing for 2 plus hours, doing it 5 nights a week on a 4 month tour... it is just mind boggling


----------



## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

I have read two books about Miles Davis...I have absolutely no idea how he was able to live as long as he did...same sort of thing.
Some folks just seem to be able to withstand extreme punishment (along with several diseases/disabling conditions) to their bodies.

Cheers

Dave


----------



## Shark (Jun 10, 2010)

marcos said:


> It amazes me that some people can consume alcohol and drugs to a point where it can kill them. I understand the addiction but dont understand the reason. If you are a famous person making a living out of doing something you love, why flush it all down the toilet.


All addictions are basically dopamine-fests, whether it's cocaine or shoe shopping. The thing is, after a while the same stimulus provides less response, so you look for something more. People who regularly engage in high-dopamine behaviour, whether from the rush of being onstage to being a car thief, will eventually get bored and look for bigger and bigger rushes. It's the same among many top level execs who live a life of big, risky business deals. 

The secret is to balance the dopamine with oxytocin (from loving and giving relationships) and serotonin (deliberate relaxation). Love is the answer.


----------



## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

Keef is still alive and he's 68. About 10 years ago, a risk assessment specialist said he should have been dead 9 years before. His dad lived to 84, his mum 91 - good old middle class brits on a good old middle class brit diet. Must have good genes is the likely answer.


----------



## Roryfan (Apr 19, 2010)

Mark P;387029)
All addictions are basically dopamine-fests said:


> Does this include NGD?


----------



## keto (May 23, 2006)

Just read a Kurt Cobain bio, same story as what Mark P posted above - needed more and more to get high (heroin), sometimes did outrageous amounts just to see if he could, died 'technically' multiple times from overdoses, in some cases playing a show later that same day. Cannot imagine.

I know Keef likes to drink, but I think his drug days are further behind him than most people would believe.


----------



## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

Look at the guy. He is not the picture of health, is he? He has likely taken 10-20 years off of his life.


----------



## smorgdonkey (Jun 23, 2008)

My body would just tell me that I have to stop LONG before any of the stuff that these guys go through would ever happen. I just can't do it. I need to feel alert and responsive so I suppose that has always been an insurance policy to me - not to say that I haven't had stints of this or that but when things started to affect me I'd drop it cold and some of the associated people were no doubt surprised that suddenly I wasn't hanging with them and 'doing our thing'. 

Whatever gets you through.


----------



## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

smorgdonkey said:


> not to say that I haven't had stints of this or that but when things started to affect me I'd drop it cold and some of the associated people were no doubt surprised that suddenly I wasn't hanging with them and 'doing our thing'.
> 
> Whatever gets you through.


i can totally relate, i think that's also a really important point you made, at the end.


----------



## Shark (Jun 10, 2010)

Roryfan said:


> Does this include NGD?


Lol!

YES


----------



## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)




----------



## smorgdonkey (Jun 23, 2008)

Robert1950 said:


>


Wait...I thought that someone said that he was still alive...?...?


----------



## Diablo (Dec 20, 2007)

Robert1950 said:


>


Who's that, villain from the new Batman movie?


----------



## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

Robert1950 said:


>


Who's that, the Crypt Keeper?


----------



## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

GuitarsCanada said:


> Must be something to it. I have two glasses of wine and I am wired. I can't imagine getting up on a stage and performing for 2 plus hours, doing it 5 nights a week on a 4 month tour... it is just mind boggling


It goes beyond mind boggling and quite frankly it's not at all cool or "rock and roll" to me.

For the other side of the equation and to see that it CAN be done without the extra chemicals, watch the documentary about Rush (Beyond the Lighted Stage).

I, like many people have gone through periods where I consumed various drugs but I have never, ever walked on stage stoned or drunk. 

Whether or not these rock stars will admit it, when they're in such condition, they suck.


----------



## cwittler (May 17, 2011)

marcos said:


> It amazes me that some people can consume alcohol and drugs to a point where it can kill them. I understand the addiction but dont understand the reason. If you are a famous person making a living out of doing something you love, why flush it all down the toilet. Hope he gets his act together and tries to remain sober for a while and see if he likes that instead of inflicting pain and misery upon himself,friends and familly.



Once upon a time, before underwriters and insurance companies became all powerful, it was an unwritten code in the professional entertainment biz that you could not make it if you were straight and sober. Some took that to mean the more wrecked you were, the more successful you would become.


----------



## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

Why are the following alive then?
The formerly posted Keith Richards
Alice Cooper
Ron Wood
Iggy Pop
Pete Townshend
David Crosby

Need I go on?
I could.

But for some reason some people don't succumb as easily and some do.

Stevie Ray Vaughan could have killed himself through his abuse problems, but he got cleaned up, and then what happens?
He dies in a helicopter crash.

While I do think it's a good idea to take care of ourselves--we have no idea how long we'll live or how we'll die, except maybe when it happens.


----------



## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

Yes, you can name tons I am sure, that seemed to have beat the odds. But the abuse on some of them is unreal. The list of those that could not handle is just as long though.


----------



## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

GuitarsCanada said:


> Yes, you can name tons I am sure, that seemed to have beat the odds. But the abuse on some of them is unreal. The list of those that could not handle is just as long though.


Indeed it is a long list on either side.

But why take chances?


----------



## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

zontar said:


> Indeed it is a long list on either side.
> 
> But why take chances?


Agreed. Don't put yourself in the position is my motto


----------



## Diablo (Dec 20, 2007)

A,though he sounds like he's only got a few brain cells left, I think Duff is one of the smarter survivors. Iirc, he's still quite wealthy from having made sound investments instead of blowing it all on drugs and hos.Seen an article he wrote for WSJ, and he was on Dr Phil last week as well talking about substance abuse.


----------



## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

Diablo said:


> A,though he sounds like he's only got a few brain cells left, I think Duff is one of the smarter survivors. Iirc, he's still quite wealthy from having made sound investments instead of blowing it all on drugs and hos.Seen an article he wrote for WSJ, and he was on Dr Phil last week as well talking about substance abuse.


My history may be off, but I believe he cleaned up quicker than a lot of others. 

The crazy part is even Steven Adler still has a fair amount of cash after all the ridiculous stuff he has put himself through. Since his court case against them in 1993, he's made 15% of the royalties from both Appetite and Lies. So even after living the most destructive life a person could live, he still is ok cash wise.


----------



## Roryfan (Apr 19, 2010)

I caught a few episodes of Celebrity Rehab that Steven Adler was on. My question is this: How much do you have to drink/snort/inject to be kicked out of a band by Slash & Axl for being too f'ed up? The very fact that he is still alive is beyond perplexing to me.


----------



## torndownunit (May 14, 2006)

Roryfan said:


> I caught a few episodes of Celebrity Rehab that Steven Adler was on. My question is this: How much do you have to drink/snort/inject to be kicked out of a band by Slash & Axl for being too f'ed up? The very fact that he is still alive is beyond perplexing to me.


Actually, I have read quite a few books on the band and by the band, and they all say Axl wasn't really big into drugs. He did do them, but supposedly didn't have any real addictive tendencies. He actually became an obsessive health nut once they got big.


----------



## fraser (Feb 24, 2007)

i actually read duff's book last week.
if its to be believed (and i do),
he quit drinking and doing drugs in his early thirties-
and at that point, due to an exploded pancreas, he was about finished.
then threw himself into long distance biking, martial arts, jogging, etc-
he became as addicted to exercise and healthy eating etc, as he was to his older lifestyle.
a lot of guys would have continued drinking, and then died- but he didnt.
he also had the added benefit of bieng wealthy.
the ability to just take off and spend a year doing whatever you want is a big factor.
most of us, musicians included, dont get that luxury, nor do we have access to the level of health care he would.
i dont find it amazing at all that the guy is alive- he had the time, the resources and he made the right choices.


----------

