August 12, 2025 • 21 mins
We're diving deep into the pivotal decade from 2015 to 2025, a time that totally transformed the music scene and its tangled relationship with drugs. The main point? The rise of fentanyl as a deadly game changer that crept in unnoticed, shifting the landscape from the classic rock star excess to a more insidious, silent threat. We chat about iconic figures like Lemmy and Prince, whose battles with addiction and tragic losses highlight how the industry often overlooks mental health and substance abuse until it's too late. But it’s not all doom and gloom; we also spotlight the resilience of artists like Demi Lovato and Paris Jackson, who are reclaiming their lives and shining a light on recovery. So, grab your headphones and join us as we unpack these wild stories and ponder how the music industry can adapt to better support its artists moving forward!
Welcome to a riveting exploration of the intricate dance between music and substance use over the pivotal decade from 2015 to 2025. This episode dives deep into how the rock and roll lifestyle, once associated with wild excess, has metamorphosed into a more sinister landscape dominated by the silent yet deadly presence of fentanyl. We kick things off by reflecting on the life of Lemmy Kilmister, whose passing in late 2015 marked not just the end of an era but the beginning of a new, darker chapter in music history. From the highs of rock star excess to the devastating realities of opioid addiction, we explore how the opioid crisis infiltrated even the highest echelons of the music world, exposing hidden struggles that many artists faced. With a mix of anecdotes, cultural analysis, and insightful commentary, we highlight key incidents involving icons like Prince and Tom Petty, illustrating how their battles with pain and addiction led to tragic fatalities, prompting a national conversation about the pressures of fame and the hidden dangers of self-medication. As we navigate through the tumultuous waters of this decade, we aim to shed light on the systemic failures within the industry that have left artists vulnerable, all while keeping the conversation engaging and relatable. Buckle up; it’s going to be a wild ride!
Takeaways:
- The podcast dives deep into the pivotal decade between 2015 and 2025, exploring how the music and drug scenes intersected and evolved dramatically during this time.
- Listeners will learn about the tragic shift from hard-partying rock legends like Lemmy to the hidden dangers of fentanyl that brought a chilling new reality to music culture.
- The episode highlights the opioid crisis's impact on both established artists and new hip hop stars, revealing systemic failures in providing mental health support within the industry.
- Demi Lovato's near-fatal overdose illustrates the severe consequences of addiction, igniting important conversations about mental health in the music community.
- The podcast discusses how the legal system's approach to drug-related incidents has begun to change, holding dealers accountable in a way that affects artists' lives dramatically.
- Lastly, the episode emphasizes the need for the music industry to adapt, moving beyond outdated tropes to create supportive environments that prioritize artists' well-being.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome to the Deep Dive,where we cut through the noise to
get you truly well informed.
Today we're plunging into areally pivotal decade, one that completely
reshaped how music and drugs intersect.
It really did.
And it's such a stark contrastwhen you think about it.
Totally.
Like think back to late 2015.
Let me kill Mr. From motorheadpasses away.
(00:20):
He was, you know, the ultimaterock and roll survivor.
Absolutely famous for, whatwas it?
Speed and Jack Daniels Daily.
Just decades of pure excess.
Right.
And his death from cancer.
It wasn't really a scandal.
It felt more like the end ofan era.
A life lived on his own terms,almost defiant.
It really was the closing ofthat chapter, that old myth maybe,
of the hard living rock starwho somehow survives at all.
(00:43):
Because the decade thatfollowed 2015 to 2025, it brought
a completely different andfrankly much grimmer reality.
And that shift left.
Wow.
Going from Lemmy's kind ofknown excess to this silent hidden
killer, fentanyl.
It just shows how the dangerchange became almost invisible.
Exactly.
It wasn't just about cocaineor heroin anymore, though those were
still factors.
(01:03):
Fentanyl became the defining substance.
We hear how potent it is, butmaybe for listeners, can you put
that into perspective?
Like why did it become such adeadly game changer?
Especially when it's hidden infake pills?
Yeah, it's.
It's hard to overstate.
It's 50 to 100 times strongerthan morphine.
50 to 100 times, right.
(01:24):
So a tiny amount, practicallyinvisible, can be fatal.
And because it's cheap andpotent, dealers started mixing it
into everything, pressing itinto counterfeit pills that looked
exactly like Vicodin or Xanax.
So people had no idea whatthey were actually taking?
None at all.
And that includes artistswe're going to talk about.
It turned recreational use oreven self medicating pain into a
(01:45):
lethal game of Russian roulette.
You just couldn't know if thatpill had effective fatal dose.
And that is precisely whatwe're diving into today.
Our mission here is to unpack10 of the most significant music
related drug incidents fromthis really turbulent period.
We want to show you how therisks change so dramatically, exposing
vulnerabilities, systemicfailures you might not even think
about.
It's kind of a shortcut reallyto understanding just how deep the
(02:09):
impact of this decade was onartists, the industry.
We hope to give you someunique insights you won't find elsewhere.
Okay, let's get into it.
The first really jarringpattern you see is how the opioid
crisis just infiltratedEverywhere, Even the highest levels
of the music world.
Often starting with what seemslike legitimate prescription painkillers.
(02:29):
And what's really telling ishow these deaths suddenly pulled
back the curtain on these verycarefully managed public images,
you know, revealing thesehidden struggles.
Right.
It forced a nationalconversation about pain.
Yes, but also about privacyand the immense pressures of being
a performer.
Prince.
His death in 2016 was just amassive shock.
(02:50):
He was only 57.
It seemed like pure energy.
People thought he was totally clean.
Right.
A devout Jehovah's Witness.
Absolutely.
So the cause of death,accidental fentanyl overdose from
counterfeit Vicodin was stunning.
It unraveled the secret he'd kept.
He'd been battling severe hippain for years, like over a decade.
A direct result of all thoseincredible high energy stage performances.
(03:12):
His addiction wasn't about partying.
It seems it started as a wayto manage chronic, debilitating pain.
That VIP patient idea youmentioned earlier.
Yeah, it's quite chilling.
How often does that happen?
Where the very privacy andprotection a star gets actually becomes
a fatal weakness in their healthcare.
It happens more than you'dthink, unfortunately.
Imagine an artist with apacked schedule, a team whose job
(03:35):
is to make things happen.
Say yes, they might demandspecific painkillers, maybe bypass
their regular doctor.
Or they're terrified of thepublic finding out if they seek addiction
help.
So they get stuck in this bubble.
Exactly.
An insulated environment wherethe normal checks and balances of
healthcare just break down.
Doctors might feel pressured,maybe cater to demands for a quick
(03:55):
fix instead of pushing forsafer long term care.
That privacy shield becomes adangerous trap.
Then, after the shock ofPrince, we lost another huge American
icon, Tom Petty in 2017.
And his death, coming rightafter a big anniversary tour, again
highlighted those pressures,didn't it?
It really did.
His family was quite openabout it.
(04:16):
He'd fractured his hip, butinsisted on finishing the tour.
The pain was apparently unbearable.
So he pushed through.
Yeah.
Leading to what his familycalled overuse of medication.
It's a tragic example of thatshow must go on mentality, the financial
pressures, the professional ones.
Artists feel compelled toperform even when they're in agony.
And sometimes they turn torisky self medication, their health
(04:39):
takes a backseat.
Then A year later, 2018, DemiLovato had that near fatal overdose.
Rushed to the hospital unconscious.
Paramedics used Narcan.
That's right.
Spent two weeks in thehospital dealing with serious complication.
Strokes, a heart attack.
It was incredibly serious.
And the drugs involved werebelieved to.
Be opioids, specifically oxycodone.
That was likely laced withfentanyl, the Narcan, that opioid
(05:02):
reversal drug, almostcertainly saved her life.
They call it the Lazarus drugfor a reason.
Wow.
She wasn't charged criminally,but the impact was huge.
Huge.
Canceled her tour, went intoextended rehab.
But her openness afterwardsabout her addiction, about the relapse,
it helped a lot of people.
Sparked conversation aboutmental health and also just the terrifying
reality of these laced drugsbeing out there.
(05:25):
Fast forward to 2022 and theloss of Taylor Hawkins, the Foo Fighters
drummer.
Another devastating blow.
He was only 50.
Just seems so full of life,such a vibrant personality.
Yeah.
The preliminary toxicologyreport mentioned a mix.
Opioids, benzodiazepines,antidepressants, thc.
It pointed towards apotentially complex struggle that
(05:45):
maybe wasn't widely known.
And the band's reaction?
They canceled everything, all tours.
The global outpour pouring ofgrief was immense.
And those tribute concerts,seeing rock royalty like Paul McPartney,
members of Queen, Metallica,Rush, all coming together, it showed
how.
Loved he was beyond just beingthe drummer.
Absolutely.
It felt like an appreciationfor the whole band, the whole ecosystem,
(06:06):
but especially for him.
He'd really become thisbeloved figure in his own right,
not just the sideman.
So fentanyl is this newterrifying element, but the older
demons of rock and rolladdiction, they were still claiming
lies, too.
Scott Weiland's death in late2015 feels like it punctuates the
end of that old era almost perfectly.
But painfully, yeah.
(06:26):
His death at 48 on the tour bus.
Cocaine, alcohol, MDA.
After such a long publicbattle with addiction.
It was tragic, but maybe notentirely surprising to some.
But it was his ex wife'sletter that really shifted the narrative,
wasn't it?
Oh, absolutely.
That Rolling Stone letter was blistering.
She pleaded with people, don'tglorify this tragedy with talk of
rock and roll.
And the demons she laid bare,his absence as a father, the reality
(06:49):
of his addiction.
It was a direct, powerfulrejection of that romantic, tortured
artist myths.
A necessary one, perhaps.
Definitely.
It drove home the point thatwhether it's an acute overdose or
just the cumulative damageover years, addiction was the architect
of his downfall.
No romance about it.
Okay, so if the opioid crisishit established rock legends hard,
(07:10):
its impact on the youngergeneration, particularly in hip hop,
was.
Well, it was devastating in adifferent way.
And this is where the lawreally starts to intersect more dramatically,
isn't it?
That's a really key transition point.
Yes, opioids hit the legends,but the most devastating waves seem
to crash over young, risinghip hop stars.
And it raises this reallytough question.
(07:32):
It is, are we looking at asystem that almost feeds on an artist's
pain, makes it part of theirbrand, but offers very little help
to actually treat it?
And then you see the linebetween their art, their lyrics,
and alleged criminal activitybecoming incredibly blurry, dangerously
thin.
Mac Miller, his death in 2018at just 26, that hit so many fans
(07:53):
so hard.
Why was his case such apainful turning point, especially
in the hip hop world?
And didn't his own music kindof eerily foreshadow it?
It was gut wrenching.
Mac had this unique connectionwith his fans because he was so open
about his struggles.
He literally rapped lineslike, a drug habit, like, philip
Hoffman will probably put mein a coffin.
And famously, don't mix itwith that bullshit.
I'm hoping not to join the 27 Club.
(08:15):
And he died at 26.
So when he died from that mixof fentanyl, cocaine and alcohol,
it felt deeply personal forhis fan base.
His lyrics weren't just songs.
They felt like reading his diary.
And the legal side, that wassignificant, too.
Hugely significant.
A federal investigationfollowed, and it led to three men
who supplied him drugs beingcharged and getting serious prison
(08:36):
time.
11 to 17 years, onepotentially facing life.
Was that unusual?
Prosecuting the dealers afteran overdose death?
It was becoming more common,especially with fentanyl involved.
But Mac Miller's profiledefinitely amplified the situation.
It sent a very strong message.
The law was going to holdsuppliers accountable for these deaths.
It showed the music world,despite its sometimes casual attitude
(08:58):
towards drugs, wasn't exemptfrom these deadly serious consequences.
Then, just over a year later,2019, we lost Juice Wrld, another
rising star, dead at 21.
Also an accidental overdose.
Oxycodone and codeine.
The lucid dream turned nightmare.
Yeah, and the circumstanceswere just awful.
He had a seizure at Chicago'sMidway Airport while federal agents
(09:20):
were searching his private jet.
During the search.
Correct.
Witnesses claimed he swalloweda bunch of pills, apparently trying
to hide them from the agents.
And his music, like MacMiller's, was full of references
to drug use, anxiety, evenrapping about not living past 21.
His name itself referencedTupac's character in the movie Juice.
(09:41):
So his death raises thisreally difficult question about criminalization,
doesn't it?
Was it purely the addiction,or was the fear of arrest a direct
factor in the overdose itself?
It's impossible to untangle, really.
His overdose seemsinextricably linked to that fear.
During the search, it forcesyou to ask if A punitive legal approach
rather than a public healthone might have inadvertently contributed
(10:03):
to his death.
Then we see the law's reachextending even further, often blurring
lines between artistry andalleged criminality.
Tekashi 69901, arrested in 2018.
That was a huge case.
Massive federal racketeering,weapons, drug trafficking charges,
heroin, fentanyl, MDMA.
All tied to his involvementwith the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods.
(10:23):
And he faced serious time.
Over 47 years potentially.
So he made that incrediblycontroversial choice to cooperate
fully with the prosecution.
Pleaded guilty, testifiedagainst his former gang.
Associates, which got him amuch shorter sentence.
Yeah, two years, mostly timeserved already.
But the cost in the hip hopworld was immense.
He became instantly notoriousas a snitch.
(10:45):
It was this real life sagaplaying out, showing the harsh reality
when the gangster imageartists cultivate collides with actual
federal charges.
Loyalty versus freedom.
And that brings us to theYoung Thug and YSL case.
Starting in 2022 and still ongoing.
This feels unprecedented inmany ways.
It really does.
A sweeping Rideau indictmentin Georgia accusing Young Thug of
(11:07):
leading YSL not just as arecord label, but as criminal street
gang involved in seriouscrimes including drug distribution.
Meth, hydrocodone, marijuana.
What makes it so controversialis the use of lyrics, right?
Exactly.
Prosecutors are using his songlyrics, his music videos, his social
media posts as evidence ofovert acts committed in furtherance
(11:28):
of the alleged criminal conspiracy.
Iraq itself is usually formafia style organized crime.
Applying it like this to ahigh profile artist and using their
creative work against them.
It sparks a huge debate, a massive.
One, about artistic freedomversus criminal evidence.
Some states are actuallytrying to pass laws now to limit
using lyrics in court.
(11:48):
Young Thug is still jailed.
The trial is complex and ongoing.
It really highlights thatdangerous tightrope between art and
alleged crime.
Then Fetty Wap, famous forTrap Queen, arrested by the FBI in
2021, sentenced in 2023.
Right.
Arrested at the Rolling Loudmusic festival of all places.
Charged in a major interstatedrug trafficking conspiracy.
Huge amounts, over 100 kilosof heroin, fentanyl, crack cocaine.
(12:11):
And he pleaded gu gifted toconspiracy to distribute cocaine.
Got six years in federal prison.
What's notable there is howprosecutors explicitly argued his
fame was a factor.
How so?
They argued he glamorized thedrug trade in his music and that
his sentence needed to send amessage to his fans.
It's another clear example ofan artist's work being turned against
(12:31):
them in court.
Really fueling that whole rapon trial debate.
Is it art or is it Confession.
And even reality TV wasn't immune.
Mendicis Harris from Love andHip Hop New York, sentenced back
in 2015.
Yeah, over eight years forrunning a heroin and cocaine trafficking
ring that went back years from2005 to 2012.
The really weird part was theforfeiture, right?
(12:52):
That was the surreal twist.
The judge ordered him toforfeit his reality TV show earnings,
like over $170,000 in cash.
Plus his fancy Audi R8 rulingthey were proceeds from his drug
dealing.
Wow.
It just exposed this bizarrelink where fame from reality TV could
be directly funded by orintertwined with a criminal, criminal
enterprise luring lines in areally stark public way.
(13:14):
Okay, so we've covered thedevastating overdoses, the heavy
hand of the law withtrafficking and riker you cases.
But this decade also served upsome, let's say, more contradictory
or unexpected drug related incidents.
Cases that didn't quite fitthose patterns, but still reveal
a lot about society's oftenconfusing attitudes towards drugs,
(13:35):
fame, justice.
Absolutely.
It's like a new anatomy ofscandal emerged, reflecting these
really specific social andlegal tensions of the time.
You see hypocrisy, you seeshifting norms, you see weird legal
outcomes.
Like Nelly in 2015, his tourbus gets pulled over.
Cops smell marijuana and theysearch the bus, find handguns, some
(13:56):
meth, small amount of pot.
He gets arrested on felonydrug charges.
But the outcome wasn't thatsevere in the end.
No.
He pleaded guilty to a muchlesser misdemeanor charge, got probation,
and eventually had it expunged.
It briefly bented his image,but it mostly served as that classic
reminder for celebrities.
You really need to know what'sgoing on with your entourage and
on your bus.
Plausible deniability onlygoes so far.
(14:17):
Then, moving over to classicrock, Phil Rudd from ACDC had that
very strange meltdown in NewZealand around 2014, 2015.
Bizarre is the word.
Initially, he was accused oftrying to hire a hitman.
That charge got dropped, buthe still faced charges for threatening
to kill someone and possessingmeth and cannabis.
And the consequences?
(14:38):
He pleaded guilty, got eightmonths of home detention.
But career wise, iteffectively ended his time with acdc.
They replaced him.
It was a stark reminder thateven for rock veterans, those old
school excesses, especiallyinvolving harder drugs like meth,
can still derail everything.
The consequences are real,even if you're a legend.
And then there's Lil Wayne.
(14:58):
His private jet gets raided byfederal agents in 2019, right?
Based on a tip.
They found a loaded handgunplus personal amounts of cocaine,
mdma, oxycodone, Marijuana.
But because he was already a convicted.
Felon, the gun charge was thebig problem.
Exactly.
He was charged with illegalfirearm possession.
Facing up to 10 years, hepleaded guilty.
But then came the twist, thehuge political twist.
(15:21):
He received a fullpresidential pardon from Donald Trump
on Trump's very last day in office.
Wiped the conviction clean.
And it was widely thought hisendorsement of Trump played a role.
That was the widespread reporting.
Yeah.
It became this major exampleof how celebrity status, political
connections, they canpotentially warp the legal process
in ways most people couldnever access.
(15:43):
Raises serious questions aboutequal justice.
Shifting scenes completely.
K Pop had its own majorscandal with Big bang's top in 2017.
Yeah, and that shows thecultural context is crucial.
He was caught having smokedmarijuana multiple times while doing
his mandatory military service.
Which is a huge deal in South Korea.
Massive deal.
Zero tolerance.
(16:04):
Hair follicle tests confirmed it.
Then, adding to the tragedy,he was found unconscious from an
overdose of prescribed antianxiety medication, which many viewed
as a suicide attempt.
Given the intense publicshame, what happened?
Legally, he pleaded guilty tothe marijuana charges, got a 10 month
suspended jail sentence, buthe was kicked out of his military
police unit, effectivelysidelined from Big Bang for years,
(16:27):
and eventually left theirlongtime agency.
It just exposed theunbelievable pressure on K pop idols
and showed that even theabsolute biggest stars aren't immune
to those incredibly strictdrug laws.
In talking about shiftinglegal landscapes, Jamie Johnson,
the country star gettingarrested in 2024 for felony marijuana
(16:47):
possession, that felt like atime warp.
It really did.
Pulled over, cops find bags ofweed, pre rolled joints, arrested
for felony possession withintent to distribute.
This is while nearly half theUS states have legalized recreational
marijuana.
Exactly.
But Tennessee, where ithappened, has much stricter laws.
It just perfectly highlightshow fractured and contradictory US
(17:07):
drug policy still is.
What's legal and mainstream inone state gets you a felony charge
in another.
And the irony was the supreme irony.
He'd just released an albumdays before with a song called Sober,
reportedly about moving pasthis own marijuana use.
You couldn't make it up.
And one of the most complex reason.
Glorilla.
In 2025, the victim as suspecta truly bizarre situation.
(17:30):
Her home gets invaded by burglars.
Police respond, but whilethey're there, they claim to smell
a strong odor of illegal narcotics.
So they get a warrant based on that.
After a home invasion.
Yes.
They searched her house, foundwhat they called a significant amount
of marijuana.
Glorilla, the victim of theburglary, ends up surrendering and
gets charged with felonymarijuana possession.
(17:51):
While the burglary remained atlarge at the time, it sparked immediate
outrage.
Her team, the public, criticsasking why law enforcement seemed
more focused on a marijuanacharge against the victim than on
catching violent home invaders.
It raised huge questions aboutpolicing, priorities, race, victimhood.
Just a really tangled situation.
And finally, a case that goesway beyond just drug use.
(18:13):
Michael Tate, the frontman forDC Talk and then newsboys, huge names
in Christian music.
Yeah.
This confession in 2025 wasseismic in that world.
He built this entire career onfaith, sobriety, moral leadership,
then confesses to basicallytwo decades of a double life, including.
Drug and alcohol abuse.
Yes, cocaine and alcohol.
But critically, it wasintertwined with allegations of unwanted
(18:35):
sensual touching of men,including some reported to be min,
and other sexual assault claims.
The drug use was really asymptom, or maybe a component of
a much larger alleged moraland potentially criminal collapse.
It's about the abuse of powerand trust, isn't it?
Absolutely.
He allegedly weaponized thetrust placed in him as a moral leader
(18:56):
to manipulate and harmvulnerable young people.
Within that very specific,insulated Christian music subculture,
it exposed how that kind ofclosed environment can sometimes
allow predatory behavior to gounchecked for years.
So looking back at this wholedecade, 2015 to 2025, it really forces
the music industry, and maybeall of us, to move past those old
(19:17):
myths.
The fentanyl crisis was thegreat disruptor, turning casual use
deadly.
Definitely.
And we saw a pretty glaringfailure often in providing real mental
health support for artists.
Their pain gets commodified,put into songs, but the underlying
issues aren't always treated.
And the limits of just usingthe criminal justice system to deal
with addiction becamepainfully clear.
(19:38):
Painfully clear, along withthese complex tangles of art, commerce,
public image and morality.
How a Persona can hidedestruction, or how art itself can
end up as evidence.
But it's not all darknessamidst this.
There are these powerfulstories of resilience, of recovery.
Thank goodness.
Yes.
You see someone like ParisJackson, Michael Jackson's daughter,
(19:59):
openly celebrating five yearssober from alcohol and heroin in
2025.
That's a life reclaimed.
Demi Lovato's ongoing journeyafter that near fatal overdose is
another huge example.
Absolutely.
And you have figures likeEllen John, who's been a beacon of
long term sobriety fordecades, or even in the electronic
music world, someone like DJRebecca Teasdale being very public
(20:19):
about her recovery.
These stories matter.
They show that even with allthe pressures and dangers in the
industry, recovery is achievable.
So this decade of turmoilreally demands that the industry
adapts.
It has to move beyond the oldtropes the challenge isn't just about
survival anymore.
It's about creating a newrhythm, one that prioritizes care,
(20:39):
accountability.
Artist.
Well, being over just therelentless machine of fame.
That's the hope, isn't it?
Yeah.
And maybe a final thought foryou, our listeners.
Considering everything we'vediscussed, the immense pressures
the show must go on, culture,the risks of hidden fentanyl, the
criminalization issues, whattangible, systemic changes do you
think the music industry couldactually implement?
(21:00):
How could it buildenvironments that genuinely support
artists instead of justreacting when tragedy strikes?
Something to think about.
Welcome to the Deep Dive,where we cut through the noise to
get you truly well informed.
Today we're plunging into areally pivotal decade, one that completely
reshaped how music and drugs intersect.
It really did.
And it's such a stark contrastwhen you think about it.
Totally.
Like think back to late 2015.
Let me kill Mr. From motorheadpasses away.
(00:20):
He was, you know, the ultimaterock and roll survivor.
Absolutely famous for, whatwas it?
Speed and Jack Daniels Daily.
Just decades of pure excess.
Right.
And his death from cancer.
It wasn't really a scandal.
It felt more like the end ofan era.
A life lived on his own terms,almost defiant.
It really was the closing ofthat chapter, that old myth maybe,
of the hard living rock starwho somehow survives at all.
(00:43):
Because the decade thatfollowed 2015 to 2025, it brought
a completely different andfrankly much grimmer reality.
And that shift left.
Wow.
Going from Lemmy's kind ofknown excess to this silent hidden
killer, fentanyl.
It just shows how the dangerchange became almost invisible.
Exactly.
It wasn't just about cocaineor heroin anymore, though those were
still factors.
(01:03):
Fentanyl became the defining substance.
We hear how potent it is, butmaybe for listeners, can you put
that into perspective?
Like why did it become such adeadly game changer?
Especially when it's hidden infake pills?
Yeah, it's.
It's hard to overstate.
It's 50 to 100 times strongerthan morphine.
50 to 100 times, right.
(01:24):
So a tiny amount, practicallyinvisible, can be fatal.
And because it's cheap andpotent, dealers started mixing it
into everything, pressing itinto counterfeit pills that looked
exactly like Vicodin or Xanax.
So people had no idea whatthey were actually taking?
None at all.
And that includes artistswe're going to talk about.
It turned recreational use oreven self medicating pain into a
(01:45):
lethal game of Russian roulette.
You just couldn't know if thatpill had effective fatal dose.
And that is precisely whatwe're diving into today.
Our mission here is to unpack10 of the most significant music
related drug incidents fromthis really turbulent period.
We want to show you how therisks change so dramatically, exposing
vulnerabilities, systemicfailures you might not even think
about.
It's kind of a shortcut reallyto understanding just how deep the
(02:09):
impact of this decade was onartists, the industry.
We hope to give you someunique insights you won't find elsewhere.
Okay, let's get into it.
The first really jarringpattern you see is how the opioid
crisis just infiltratedEverywhere, Even the highest levels
of the music world.
Often starting with what seemslike legitimate prescription painkillers.
(02:29):
And what's really telling ishow these deaths suddenly pulled
back the curtain on these verycarefully managed public images,
you know, revealing thesehidden struggles.
Right.
It forced a nationalconversation about pain.
Yes, but also about privacyand the immense pressures of being
a performer.
Prince.
His death in 2016 was just amassive shock.
(02:50):
He was only 57.
It seemed like pure energy.
People thought he was totally clean.
Right.
A devout Jehovah's Witness.
Absolutely.
So the cause of death,accidental fentanyl overdose from
counterfeit Vicodin was stunning.
It unraveled the secret he'd kept.
He'd been battling severe hippain for years, like over a decade.
A direct result of all thoseincredible high energy stage performances.
(03:12):
His addiction wasn't about partying.
It seems it started as a wayto manage chronic, debilitating pain.
That VIP patient idea youmentioned earlier.
Yeah, it's quite chilling.
How often does that happen?
Where the very privacy andprotection a star gets actually becomes
a fatal weakness in their healthcare.
It happens more than you'dthink, unfortunately.
Imagine an artist with apacked schedule, a team whose job
(03:35):
is to make things happen.
Say yes, they might demandspecific painkillers, maybe bypass
their regular doctor.
Or they're terrified of thepublic finding out if they seek addiction
help.
So they get stuck in this bubble.
Exactly.
An insulated environment wherethe normal checks and balances of
healthcare just break down.
Doctors might feel pressured,maybe cater to demands for a quick
(03:55):
fix instead of pushing forsafer long term care.
That privacy shield becomes adangerous trap.
Then, after the shock ofPrince, we lost another huge American
icon, Tom Petty in 2017.
And his death, coming rightafter a big anniversary tour, again
highlighted those pressures,didn't it?
It really did.
His family was quite openabout it.
(04:16):
He'd fractured his hip, butinsisted on finishing the tour.
The pain was apparently unbearable.
So he pushed through.
Yeah.
Leading to what his familycalled overuse of medication.
It's a tragic example of thatshow must go on mentality, the financial
pressures, the professional ones.
Artists feel compelled toperform even when they're in agony.
And sometimes they turn torisky self medication, their health
(04:39):
takes a backseat.
Then A year later, 2018, DemiLovato had that near fatal overdose.
Rushed to the hospital unconscious.
Paramedics used Narcan.
That's right.
Spent two weeks in thehospital dealing with serious complication.
Strokes, a heart attack.
It was incredibly serious.
And the drugs involved werebelieved to.
Be opioids, specifically oxycodone.
That was likely laced withfentanyl, the Narcan, that opioid
(05:02):
reversal drug, almostcertainly saved her life.
They call it the Lazarus drugfor a reason.
Wow.
She wasn't charged criminally,but the impact was huge.
Huge.
Canceled her tour, went intoextended rehab.
But her openness afterwardsabout her addiction, about the relapse,
it helped a lot of people.
Sparked conversation aboutmental health and also just the terrifying
reality of these laced drugsbeing out there.
(05:25):
Fast forward to 2022 and theloss of Taylor Hawkins, the Foo Fighters
drummer.
Another devastating blow.
He was only 50.
Just seems so full of life,such a vibrant personality.
Yeah.
The preliminary toxicologyreport mentioned a mix.
Opioids, benzodiazepines,antidepressants, thc.
It pointed towards apotentially complex struggle that
(05:45):
maybe wasn't widely known.
And the band's reaction?
They canceled everything, all tours.
The global outpour pouring ofgrief was immense.
And those tribute concerts,seeing rock royalty like Paul McPartney,
members of Queen, Metallica,Rush, all coming together, it showed
how.
Loved he was beyond just beingthe drummer.
Absolutely.
It felt like an appreciationfor the whole band, the whole ecosystem,
(06:06):
but especially for him.
He'd really become thisbeloved figure in his own right,
not just the sideman.
So fentanyl is this newterrifying element, but the older
demons of rock and rolladdiction, they were still claiming
lies, too.
Scott Weiland's death in late2015 feels like it punctuates the
end of that old era almost perfectly.
But painfully, yeah.
(06:26):
His death at 48 on the tour bus.
Cocaine, alcohol, MDA.
After such a long publicbattle with addiction.
It was tragic, but maybe notentirely surprising to some.
But it was his ex wife'sletter that really shifted the narrative,
wasn't it?
Oh, absolutely.
That Rolling Stone letter was blistering.
She pleaded with people, don'tglorify this tragedy with talk of
rock and roll.
And the demons she laid bare,his absence as a father, the reality
(06:49):
of his addiction.
It was a direct, powerfulrejection of that romantic, tortured
artist myths.
A necessary one, perhaps.
Definitely.
It drove home the point thatwhether it's an acute overdose or
just the cumulative damageover years, addiction was the architect
of his downfall.
No romance about it.
Okay, so if the opioid crisishit established rock legends hard,
(07:10):
its impact on the youngergeneration, particularly in hip hop,
was.
Well, it was devastating in adifferent way.
And this is where the lawreally starts to intersect more dramatically,
isn't it?
That's a really key transition point.
Yes, opioids hit the legends,but the most devastating waves seem
to crash over young, risinghip hop stars.
And it raises this reallytough question.
(07:32):
It is, are we looking at asystem that almost feeds on an artist's
pain, makes it part of theirbrand, but offers very little help
to actually treat it?
And then you see the linebetween their art, their lyrics,
and alleged criminal activitybecoming incredibly blurry, dangerously
thin.
Mac Miller, his death in 2018at just 26, that hit so many fans
(07:53):
so hard.
Why was his case such apainful turning point, especially
in the hip hop world?
And didn't his own music kindof eerily foreshadow it?
It was gut wrenching.
Mac had this unique connectionwith his fans because he was so open
about his struggles.
He literally rapped lineslike, a drug habit, like, philip
Hoffman will probably put mein a coffin.
And famously, don't mix itwith that bullshit.
I'm hoping not to join the 27 Club.
(08:15):
And he died at 26.
So when he died from that mixof fentanyl, cocaine and alcohol,
it felt deeply personal forhis fan base.
His lyrics weren't just songs.
They felt like reading his diary.
And the legal side, that wassignificant, too.
Hugely significant.
A federal investigationfollowed, and it led to three men
who supplied him drugs beingcharged and getting serious prison
(08:36):
time.
11 to 17 years, onepotentially facing life.
Was that unusual?
Prosecuting the dealers afteran overdose death?
It was becoming more common,especially with fentanyl involved.
But Mac Miller's profiledefinitely amplified the situation.
It sent a very strong message.
The law was going to holdsuppliers accountable for these deaths.
It showed the music world,despite its sometimes casual attitude
(08:58):
towards drugs, wasn't exemptfrom these deadly serious consequences.
Then, just over a year later,2019, we lost Juice Wrld, another
rising star, dead at 21.
Also an accidental overdose.
Oxycodone and codeine.
The lucid dream turned nightmare.
Yeah, and the circumstanceswere just awful.
He had a seizure at Chicago'sMidway Airport while federal agents
(09:20):
were searching his private jet.
During the search.
Correct.
Witnesses claimed he swalloweda bunch of pills, apparently trying
to hide them from the agents.
And his music, like MacMiller's, was full of references
to drug use, anxiety, evenrapping about not living past 21.
His name itself referencedTupac's character in the movie Juice.
(09:41):
So his death raises thisreally difficult question about criminalization,
doesn't it?
Was it purely the addiction,or was the fear of arrest a direct
factor in the overdose itself?
It's impossible to untangle, really.
His overdose seemsinextricably linked to that fear.
During the search, it forcesyou to ask if A punitive legal approach
rather than a public healthone might have inadvertently contributed
(10:03):
to his death.
Then we see the law's reachextending even further, often blurring
lines between artistry andalleged criminality.
Tekashi 69901, arrested in 2018.
That was a huge case.
Massive federal racketeering,weapons, drug trafficking charges,
heroin, fentanyl, MDMA.
All tied to his involvementwith the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods.
(10:23):
And he faced serious time.
Over 47 years potentially.
So he made that incrediblycontroversial choice to cooperate
fully with the prosecution.
Pleaded guilty, testifiedagainst his former gang.
Associates, which got him amuch shorter sentence.
Yeah, two years, mostly timeserved already.
But the cost in the hip hopworld was immense.
He became instantly notoriousas a snitch.
(10:45):
It was this real life sagaplaying out, showing the harsh reality
when the gangster imageartists cultivate collides with actual
federal charges.
Loyalty versus freedom.
And that brings us to theYoung Thug and YSL case.
Starting in 2022 and still ongoing.
This feels unprecedented inmany ways.
It really does.
A sweeping Rideau indictmentin Georgia accusing Young Thug of
(11:07):
leading YSL not just as arecord label, but as criminal street
gang involved in seriouscrimes including drug distribution.
Meth, hydrocodone, marijuana.
What makes it so controversialis the use of lyrics, right?
Exactly.
Prosecutors are using his songlyrics, his music videos, his social
media posts as evidence ofovert acts committed in furtherance
(11:28):
of the alleged criminal conspiracy.
Iraq itself is usually formafia style organized crime.
Applying it like this to ahigh profile artist and using their
creative work against them.
It sparks a huge debate, a massive.
One, about artistic freedomversus criminal evidence.
Some states are actuallytrying to pass laws now to limit
using lyrics in court.
(11:48):
Young Thug is still jailed.
The trial is complex and ongoing.
It really highlights thatdangerous tightrope between art and
alleged crime.
Then Fetty Wap, famous forTrap Queen, arrested by the FBI in
2021, sentenced in 2023.
Right.
Arrested at the Rolling Loudmusic festival of all places.
Charged in a major interstatedrug trafficking conspiracy.
Huge amounts, over 100 kilosof heroin, fentanyl, crack cocaine.
(12:11):
And he pleaded gu gifted toconspiracy to distribute cocaine.
Got six years in federal prison.
What's notable there is howprosecutors explicitly argued his
fame was a factor.
How so?
They argued he glamorized thedrug trade in his music and that
his sentence needed to send amessage to his fans.
It's another clear example ofan artist's work being turned against
(12:31):
them in court.
Really fueling that whole rapon trial debate.
Is it art or is it Confession.
And even reality TV wasn't immune.
Mendicis Harris from Love andHip Hop New York, sentenced back
in 2015.
Yeah, over eight years forrunning a heroin and cocaine trafficking
ring that went back years from2005 to 2012.
The really weird part was theforfeiture, right?
(12:52):
That was the surreal twist.
The judge ordered him toforfeit his reality TV show earnings,
like over $170,000 in cash.
Plus his fancy Audi R8 rulingthey were proceeds from his drug
dealing.
Wow.
It just exposed this bizarrelink where fame from reality TV could
be directly funded by orintertwined with a criminal, criminal
enterprise luring lines in areally stark public way.
(13:14):
Okay, so we've covered thedevastating overdoses, the heavy
hand of the law withtrafficking and riker you cases.
But this decade also served upsome, let's say, more contradictory
or unexpected drug related incidents.
Cases that didn't quite fitthose patterns, but still reveal
a lot about society's oftenconfusing attitudes towards drugs,
(13:35):
fame, justice.
Absolutely.
It's like a new anatomy ofscandal emerged, reflecting these
really specific social andlegal tensions of the time.
You see hypocrisy, you seeshifting norms, you see weird legal
outcomes.
Like Nelly in 2015, his tourbus gets pulled over.
Cops smell marijuana and theysearch the bus, find handguns, some
(13:56):
meth, small amount of pot.
He gets arrested on felonydrug charges.
But the outcome wasn't thatsevere in the end.
No.
He pleaded guilty to a muchlesser misdemeanor charge, got probation,
and eventually had it expunged.
It briefly bented his image,but it mostly served as that classic
reminder for celebrities.
You really need to know what'sgoing on with your entourage and
on your bus.
Plausible deniability onlygoes so far.
(14:17):
Then, moving over to classicrock, Phil Rudd from ACDC had that
very strange meltdown in NewZealand around 2014, 2015.
Bizarre is the word.
Initially, he was accused oftrying to hire a hitman.
That charge got dropped, buthe still faced charges for threatening
to kill someone and possessingmeth and cannabis.
And the consequences?
(14:38):
He pleaded guilty, got eightmonths of home detention.
But career wise, iteffectively ended his time with acdc.
They replaced him.
It was a stark reminder thateven for rock veterans, those old
school excesses, especiallyinvolving harder drugs like meth,
can still derail everything.
The consequences are real,even if you're a legend.
And then there's Lil Wayne.
(14:58):
His private jet gets raided byfederal agents in 2019, right?
Based on a tip.
They found a loaded handgunplus personal amounts of cocaine,
mdma, oxycodone, Marijuana.
But because he was already a convicted.
Felon, the gun charge was thebig problem.
Exactly.
He was charged with illegalfirearm possession.
Facing up to 10 years, hepleaded guilty.
But then came the twist, thehuge political twist.
(15:21):
He received a fullpresidential pardon from Donald Trump
on Trump's very last day in office.
Wiped the conviction clean.
And it was widely thought hisendorsement of Trump played a role.
That was the widespread reporting.
Yeah.
It became this major exampleof how celebrity status, political
connections, they canpotentially warp the legal process
in ways most people couldnever access.
(15:43):
Raises serious questions aboutequal justice.
Shifting scenes completely.
K Pop had its own majorscandal with Big bang's top in 2017.
Yeah, and that shows thecultural context is crucial.
He was caught having smokedmarijuana multiple times while doing
his mandatory military service.
Which is a huge deal in South Korea.
Massive deal.
Zero tolerance.
(16:04):
Hair follicle tests confirmed it.
Then, adding to the tragedy,he was found unconscious from an
overdose of prescribed antianxiety medication, which many viewed
as a suicide attempt.
Given the intense publicshame, what happened?
Legally, he pleaded guilty tothe marijuana charges, got a 10 month
suspended jail sentence, buthe was kicked out of his military
police unit, effectivelysidelined from Big Bang for years,
(16:27):
and eventually left theirlongtime agency.
It just exposed theunbelievable pressure on K pop idols
and showed that even theabsolute biggest stars aren't immune
to those incredibly strictdrug laws.
In talking about shiftinglegal landscapes, Jamie Johnson,
the country star gettingarrested in 2024 for felony marijuana
(16:47):
possession, that felt like atime warp.
It really did.
Pulled over, cops find bags ofweed, pre rolled joints, arrested
for felony possession withintent to distribute.
This is while nearly half theUS states have legalized recreational
marijuana.
Exactly.
But Tennessee, where ithappened, has much stricter laws.
It just perfectly highlightshow fractured and contradictory US
(17:07):
drug policy still is.
What's legal and mainstream inone state gets you a felony charge
in another.
And the irony was the supreme irony.
He'd just released an albumdays before with a song called Sober,
reportedly about moving pasthis own marijuana use.
You couldn't make it up.
And one of the most complex reason.
Glorilla.
In 2025, the victim as suspecta truly bizarre situation.
(17:30):
Her home gets invaded by burglars.
Police respond, but whilethey're there, they claim to smell
a strong odor of illegal narcotics.
So they get a warrant based on that.
After a home invasion.
Yes.
They searched her house, foundwhat they called a significant amount
of marijuana.
Glorilla, the victim of theburglary, ends up surrendering and
gets charged with felonymarijuana possession.
(17:51):
While the burglary remained atlarge at the time, it sparked immediate
outrage.
Her team, the public, criticsasking why law enforcement seemed
more focused on a marijuanacharge against the victim than on
catching violent home invaders.
It raised huge questions aboutpolicing, priorities, race, victimhood.
Just a really tangled situation.
And finally, a case that goesway beyond just drug use.
(18:13):
Michael Tate, the frontman forDC Talk and then newsboys, huge names
in Christian music.
Yeah.
This confession in 2025 wasseismic in that world.
He built this entire career onfaith, sobriety, moral leadership,
then confesses to basicallytwo decades of a double life, including.
Drug and alcohol abuse.
Yes, cocaine and alcohol.
But critically, it wasintertwined with allegations of unwanted
(18:35):
sensual touching of men,including some reported to be min,
and other sexual assault claims.
The drug use was really asymptom, or maybe a component of
a much larger alleged moraland potentially criminal collapse.
It's about the abuse of powerand trust, isn't it?
Absolutely.
He allegedly weaponized thetrust placed in him as a moral leader
(18:56):
to manipulate and harmvulnerable young people.
Within that very specific,insulated Christian music subculture,
it exposed how that kind ofclosed environment can sometimes
allow predatory behavior to gounchecked for years.
So looking back at this wholedecade, 2015 to 2025, it really forces
the music industry, and maybeall of us, to move past those old
(19:17):
myths.
The fentanyl crisis was thegreat disruptor, turning casual use
deadly.
Definitely.
And we saw a pretty glaringfailure often in providing real mental
health support for artists.
Their pain gets commodified,put into songs, but the underlying
issues aren't always treated.
And the limits of just usingthe criminal justice system to deal
with addiction becamepainfully clear.
(19:38):
Painfully clear, along withthese complex tangles of art, commerce,
public image and morality.
How a Persona can hidedestruction, or how art itself can
end up as evidence.
But it's not all darknessamidst this.
There are these powerfulstories of resilience, of recovery.
Thank goodness.
Yes.
You see someone like ParisJackson, Michael Jackson's daughter,
(19:59):
openly celebrating five yearssober from alcohol and heroin in
2025.
That's a life reclaimed.
Demi Lovato's ongoing journeyafter that near fatal overdose is
another huge example.
Absolutely.
And you have figures likeEllen John, who's been a beacon of
long term sobriety fordecades, or even in the electronic
music world, someone like DJRebecca Teasdale being very public
(20:19):
about her recovery.
These stories matter.
They show that even with allthe pressures and dangers in the
industry, recovery is achievable.
So this decade of turmoilreally demands that the industry
adapts.
It has to move beyond the oldtropes the challenge isn't just about
survival anymore.
It's about creating a newrhythm, one that prioritizes care,
(20:39):
accountability.
Artist.
Well, being over just therelentless machine of fame.
That's the hope, isn't it?
Yeah.
And maybe a final thought foryou, our listeners.
Considering everything we'vediscussed, the immense pressures
the show must go on, culture,the risks of hidden fentanyl, the
criminalization issues, whattangible, systemic changes do you
think the music industry couldactually implement?
(21:00):
How could it buildenvironments that genuinely support
artists instead of justreacting when tragedy strikes?
Something to think about.
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