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I guess the fact that I'm not mildy surprised that people can be married for 60 years says something about how different our cultures are? Even though we're on

by 13hours 22d ago

I guess the fact that I'm not mildy surprised that people can be married for 60 years says something about how different our cultures are? Even though we're on HN discussing so many other things we have in common.

Erem 22d ago
Divorce is rampant among celebrities in the USA. Maybe not worldwide?
johnnyanmac 22d ago
It's not unheard of. But I guess it's a mix of several small factors: 1. divorce rates have been rising for decades. 2. 60 years is a very long time, and that means Dolly would have had to marry around 18-20. Marrying that young these days for my generation very much is an anomaly, and people are putting off marriage more and more these days. 3. Celebrity culture in particular has a much more tumultuous relationship. In a number of cases, marriage may simply be another influential tool to manage fame and wealth rather than an act of love and caring.
asveikau 22d ago
I think money, fame, celebrity status, etc. often creates pressures on the relationship. Kind of like how it sometimes pushes people into drug addictions. That's a stereotype that we've all heard about since kids, but it wasn't until relatively recently that I thought about it seriously that it occurred to me that a touring celebrity musician's life can be stressful and the drugs can be (or start out as) a pressure valve release. I think that part of it clicked to me when I heard a musician being interviewed about it, I forget which. Maybe it was a Beatle talking about their early amphetamine days.
- jimt1234 22d ago
  I had a friend in the mid-90s that was in a mildly successful band. They did a few national tours as opener for bands like The Red Hot Chili Peppers. I met up with him once while he was out on tour. I was thinking he was living his best life, like he was gonna brag about the lifestyle. Just the opposite. He hated touring, said it was very stressful, and that he just wanted to eat a home-cooked meal and sleep in the same bed more than two nights in a row. And yes, he said industry folks were constantly pushing free drugs.
- duderific 22d ago
  Re the drug addictions - another thing to note about touring musicians is that there's a lot of downtime. New cities every day, not much to do until your show in the evening. Pretty easy to slip into unhealthy habits.
  - artisinal 22d ago
    I tend to visit the local museums, drink coffee at a cute coffee place and hit up the town square instead of doing hardcore drugs.
    - duderific 22d ago
      Yeah clearly there are alternatives, and plenty of musicians are able to find them. If you're already an addict though, there's not much stopping you from continuing that lifestyle, other than the ability to secure the next fix.
- alexpotato 22d ago
  > but it wasn't until relatively recently that I thought about it seriously that it occurred to me that a touring celebrity musician's life can be stressful and the drugs can be (or start out as) a pressure valve release The 2017 documentary about Avicii [0] does a great job of showing this specific case. He was an introvert so he started drinking to be more comfortable on stage. As he got more famous, the pressure to create more hit records grew and grew. David Guetta explains it better than I could and he's world famous in his own right. Highly recommend watching it and consider it MUCH better than the 2024 documentary. 0 - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7357302/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7357302/

by 13hours 22d ago

Erem 22d ago

Divorce is rampant among celebrities in the USA. Maybe not worldwide?

johnnyanmac 22d ago

It's not unheard of. But I guess it's a mix of several small factors: 1. divorce rates have been rising for decades. 2. 60 years is a very long time, and that means Dolly would have had to marry around 18-20. Marrying that young these days for my generation very much is an anomaly, and people are putting off marriage more and more these days. 3. Celebrity culture in particular has a much more tumultuous relationship. In a number of cases, marriage may simply be another influential tool to manage fame and wealth rather than an act of love and caring.

asveikau 22d ago

I think money, fame, celebrity status, etc. often creates pressures on the relationship. Kind of like how it sometimes pushes people into drug addictions. That's a stereotype that we've all heard about since kids, but it wasn't until relatively recently that I thought about it seriously that it occurred to me that a touring celebrity musician's life can be stressful and the drugs can be (or start out as) a pressure valve release. I think that part of it clicked to me when I heard a musician being interviewed about it, I forget which. Maybe it was a Beatle talking about their early amphetamine days.

jimt1234 22d ago
I had a friend in the mid-90s that was in a mildly successful band. They did a few national tours as opener for bands like The Red Hot Chili Peppers. I met up with him once while he was out on tour. I was thinking he was living his best life, like he was gonna brag about the lifestyle. Just the opposite. He hated touring, said it was very stressful, and that he just wanted to eat a home-cooked meal and sleep in the same bed more than two nights in a row. And yes, he said industry folks were constantly pushing free drugs.
duderific 22d ago
Re the drug addictions - another thing to note about touring musicians is that there's a lot of downtime. New cities every day, not much to do until your show in the evening. Pretty easy to slip into unhealthy habits.
- artisinal 22d ago
  I tend to visit the local museums, drink coffee at a cute coffee place and hit up the town square instead of doing hardcore drugs.
  - duderific 22d ago
    Yeah clearly there are alternatives, and plenty of musicians are able to find them. If you're already an addict though, there's not much stopping you from continuing that lifestyle, other than the ability to secure the next fix.
alexpotato 22d ago
> but it wasn't until relatively recently that I thought about it seriously that it occurred to me that a touring celebrity musician's life can be stressful and the drugs can be (or start out as) a pressure valve release The 2017 documentary about Avicii [0] does a great job of showing this specific case. He was an introvert so he started drinking to be more comfortable on stage. As he got more famous, the pressure to create more hit records grew and grew. David Guetta explains it better than I could and he's world famous in his own right. Highly recommend watching it and consider it MUCH better than the 2024 documentary. 0 - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7357302/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7357302/