As I see people pay tribute to Chester’s incredible musical achievements, another matter reverberating around is the issue of his depression. Chester was highly successful, rich, had fame and seemed to have a lot going for him. Chris Cornell was very similar on that matter. But both of these legends committed suicide shocking fans around the world.
It is difficult for people struggling everyday just to keep their family fed to comprehend how someone who need not worry much about basic necessities and not even about luxuries in life could do such a thing. But, therein lays the answer. Chester had reached the pinnacle of his musical career which he was very unlikely to top. He had enough money for his six children to live a life comfortably before they become adults. And with his sense of purpose diminished to a great extent with his professional and personal goals very much achieved, his depression took over.
Life is strange with luxuries. Primitively, human beings needed each other to survive every day. It was a constant matter of life and death but with the camaraderie and the sense of purpose, man evolved to where we are now. When people do not have to go through that everyday struggle mixed with constant touring and staying isolated from family for musicians, people tend to lose their way inside their heads. We are still very primal in our psychological needs.
I am never a fan of musicians constantly releasing albums and touring all the time. At the start of their career it makes all the sense in the world. But as they age I truly believe musicians need to find a life outside of music. As Albert Camus once said, “The day when I am no more than a writer I shall cease to be a writer.” A constant need to be creative without having time to rejuvenate leads musicians to drug abuse. Musicians write lyrics mostly from emotional experiences. But when a musician is touring all the time there is no time for them to go through these experiences for new content. So, drugs substitute real life experiences for creativity which can always lead to addiction.
I feel the path Maynard James Keenan, the vocalist of Tool has taken is extremely healthy for musicians. He runs his own Wine Company, practices Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and owns a gym as well, and regularly lives in the middle of nowhere in Arizona. Even though he has three bands in Tool, A Perfect Circle and Puscifer, he balances time extremely well among music, his other endeavors and family. As the title of his book so fittingly is named, his life is truly a perfect union of contrary things.
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