Final Chord - Book (Ingo Scheel)

What do artists as diverse as Alexandra, GG Allin, and Michael Hutchence have in common? They are all dead. And none of them died of old age.

What humanity will shrug off in your own case - hopefully many years from now - shakes millions when it comes to pop stars: death. Genuine grief mixes with sensationalism; the contrast between the (more or less) joyful, life-affirming, glamorous world of pop music and the irrevocable end could not be greater. Shocked and fascinated, we read the obituaries and from now on listen to the music of the deceased with different ears. To be immortal yet dead: only a very few manage this balancing act.

A few years ago, a medical journal published a study showing that pop stars die younger than common folk. We suspected it. But why? Why did people who lived our dream die before their time? How desperate were they in their mansions, surrounded by gold records and champagne bottles? Did they sniff the table once too often, or was a jealous person with a gun the cause of death? What demons, managers, and/or ex-partners drove our idols into eternal oblivion? And did Keith Moon really die from a schnitzel and 35 sleeping pills?