Ongoing History Daily: The most dangerous professions in the world include “musician”

There are certain professions that the actuarial tables say are more dangerous than others. The worst possible gig you can have is that of a race car driver. The average lifespan of someone who goes fast for a living is 56.1 years. That makes a race car driver a worse choice than someone who works in the military (57.1 years), a boxer (59.7 years), a pro wrestler (60.5 years), and an activist (62 years).

In sixth place is a musician. With all the dangers, pitfalls, and lifestyle choices, the typical professional musician has a lifespan of just 64 years. That number is derived from a study of all musicians born since 1900, so things must have improved in recent decades, right? Well, if we narrow it to just the modern era, the average age of death for both male and female rock musicians is just over 50. Punk and metal musicians of both sexes die, on average, at the age of about 40.

Let’s be careful out there.