Would you die for your music? I mean, we say it so often. A band comes to your town who you love and you declare wildly “I’D DIE TO SEE THEM LIVE!”
We’re all open to wild claims and hyperbole, but sometimes dying for music is just what comes naturally for some rockstars – and unfortunately what comes to some people due to their beliefs and family troubles.
Rockstar deaths is not at all a new trend. Think of all the iconic rockstars past: Tupac, Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix. All these people have died, possibly due to love of their music, or rampant abuse of drugs and deadly lifestyle. Rockstars come and go, through phases of trend as well as the prevalence of drugs. Amy Winehouse for example, is often the butt of all jokes. Her obvious drug abuse and frail frame indicates that her life is going nowhere good – but can the music industry be blamed for her physique currently?
Many people accuse the music industry of turning even the most sweetest and innocent of things into a drug fiend desperate for a hit. Is that through love of music, or just through the tendency of the music industry in general to ruin anything good? Extreme lengths are almost always taken when trying to score record deals, and its been said that more often than not, drugs are encouraged in order to create scandal, sell magazine covers, and therefore concert tickets and cds.
When did we all become so fascinated with rockstars mortality? Of course, some think they’re immortal and abuse their bodies as much as possible – but that’s when the love for music fades out, and the greed for money sets in.
Unfortunately, there are worse problems going on for the people who are dying for music – a reason which is entirely out of their control.
Recently, some reports arose of female singer Shamim Aiman Udas, a Pakistani national who was murdered on Sunday due to religious beliefs conflicting with her lifestyle. As her husband reported the shooting, he told that her two brothers severely disapproved of her musical status due to the fact she was a woman. While she was around Koochi Plaza, her brothers had formulated a plan and allegedly opened fire on her, killing her brutally.
In some areas of Pakistan the Taliban are starting to take hold as the dominant power which is creating a fermentation of social and political conflict between different religions and ways of life.
It’s so sad to see someone with a great talent like hers wasted, due to the fact she is a woman, which is unacceptable in this kind of music industry in regards to religion and politics. When this kind of situation takes over to the point where you disapprove of your sister’s wellbeing and talent, it becomes clear and politics, religion and music are things that rarely mix well without curdling.
We can only hope that this sort of situation is a rare occurance, but how are we to know otherwise? While yes, it is decent to become respectful towards your dominant life philosophy or doctrine, whatever it may be, it’s a sad sad day that someone takes a bullet for the sake of bringing joy and happiness through the medium of music.