Vic Chesnutt's Life Was A Life Marked By Tragedy

In the last year there were many important people who passed away as a result of their addictions. Sadly, one of those people went relatively unnoticed; for whatever reason the name Vic Chesnutt and his death went undetected by many in the media. When it came to high profile deaths in 2009, Jackson, DJ AM, Murphy, and Johnson seemed to get all the attention. Vic Chesnutt is not a name that many people know, he was not some mainstream music star; he had yet to win any Grammys at the time of his death and he never invented any dance moves that would end up going down in history. He did, however, touch the lives of many people throughout the music community - singing songs of sadness and inspiration. Vic Chesnutt's life was a life marked by tragedy, creating an uphill battle for Vic's entire life. Not many paid attention to Vic when he was alive, perhaps more will find comfort in his lyricism now that he has passed on.

Chesnutt, a songwriter known for his dark folk music with a touch comedic relief, died on Christmas day in Athens, Georgia. Vic spent several days in a coma that was caused by an overdose of muscle relaxers. When one looks at the surface of this story it does not seem like anything new, another musician loses the battle against drugs and alcohol or they end up taking their own life for a number of emotional reasons. Vic's story is a little bit different and makes one ask the question, "Was Vic Chesnutt overlooked by society?". Vic Chesnutt was born in 1964 in Georgia, at the age of 18 he was involved in a car accident that ended up placing Chesnutt in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Although he was paralyzed from the neck down, he found that he could move his hands enough to play simple cords on his guitar; he invested all of his energy into songwriting. The first two albums Chesnutt ever created were produced by Michael Stipe of R.E.M. "Chesnutt gained national prominence thanks to 1996's Sweet Relief II: Gravity of the Situation, which featured Smashing Pumpkins, R.E.M., Garbage and more bands covering his songs to raise money for the Sweet Relief charity, which aids musicians in need of health care", according to Rolling Stone.

At the end of the day, Health Care is what this story is really about. At the time of Chesnutt's death, his medical problems ended up making him a critic of the American health care system. Chesnutt was one of the fortunate Americans to have health insurance; but, he still found himself with $35,000 in medical bills which weighed on the singer heavily. Despite releasing 17 records in his career, Vic was not a rich musician; there is very little money and even less respect in the indie-music scene. It is believed by many that Vic deliberately overdosed because he could no longer deal with the health care system that he was bound to and the insurmountable debt that came along with that system.

He was certainly passed over by Insurance companies, my peers, and even myself; the music industry kept Chesnutt alive and ultimately played a part in his death. I hope that you will take the time to listen to the power of just one of Vic's songs.

"I guess the very emotional nature of my songs attracts emotional people, and they become quite, um, emotional. They come up to me after the shows, and I don't know what to say to them. I dont want to be an asshole or anything, but I think I do my best communicating alone in my room, when I'm writing songs. But I do appreciate them very much. If it wasn't for them, I would've killed myself a long time ago."

Michael Jackson Death Has Been Ruled A Homicide

The Los Angeles County Coroner's Office report on the death of Michael Jackson has finally been released. Michael Jackson's death has been ruled a homicide as a result of the findings. The fact of the matter is that Michael Jackson was indeed a drug addict for many years with ample opportunity to receive help; time and time again he refused help and continued to abuse prescription medication with the help of his doctors and particularly Dr. Conrad Murray who is now most likely facing homicide charges. "I'm a little bit surprised," Jane Brackley of London told MTV News in Times Square. "Then again, you knew he was taking quite a few prescription drugs, and somebody had to give them to him." However, we have to ask ourselves whether or not we charge drug dealers with homicide, let alone attempted homicide, when people overdose and die from the drugs they were sold. Michael Jackson, despite being highly intoxicated, was well aware of the choices he was making and was urged to check into treatment; but, the choice to go to treatment has to be the patients and his doctor (whose salary was $150,000 per month) was not just going stop prescribing Jackson drugs that he was addicted to.

"According to the affidavits lodged with the search warrants, Jackson had a roster of half a dozen doctors who prescribed him drugs, excluding two in Germany who had allegedly introduced him to propofol." reports the Australian On-Line Newspaper. Do we punish all of those doctors or just the one who gave him the medications that Jackson already had a dependency for? While being interviewed by detectives, again according to the Australian: allegedly Dr. Murray said Jackson "was very familiar with the drug (propofol) and referred to it as his 'milk'". Sedatives and pain killers can be extremely dangerous drugs if not properly managed by a doctor who specializes in that field, so it is not all that surprising that something like this happened. Dr. Murray claims that after realizing Jackson's dependence to Propofol he attempted to get him off it. The Australian reports: "He became concerned about the possibility of addiction to propofol and decided to wean Jackson off the drug. For two nights before the death, he administered a different drug cocktail and Jackson was able to sleep. But the night before his death, Dr. Murray gave Jackson Valium at 1am and stayed beside him all night, trying different drugs to induce sleep. Finally, at 10:40am, he relented and gave Jackson propofol." After Jackson stopped breathing it took 82 minutes before an ambulance was called, which clearly shows that Murray knew that he was in trouble and tried everything he could to fix the problem on his own.

One thing seems very clear, there are a lot of pieces to the puzzle of Jackson's death and there is not just one responsible party. It is easy to agree with the idea that Murray is liable for the pop star's death, but, to say that one doctor should be charged with homicide for the death of a person who had a lot of help along the way by multiple doctors and even "friends" seems absurd. There is no question in my mind regarding the negligence of Dr. Murray on that fatal night; however, he was given a patient to fix who had already been broken by several other doctors over the years. Michael Jackson's drug addiction was facilitated by many family, friends, and doctors for over twenty years and it was only a matter of time before his disease got the best of him. The question that remains now, is whether we punish the doctors or change the legislation regarding the ability for private doctors to prescribe certain drugs?

Michael Jackson Doctor's Office was Raided as Part of a Manslaughter Investigation

Yesterday, LAPD and DEA agents arrived at the Houston, Texas, clinic of Dr. Conrad Murray; who was Michael Jackson's personal physician and was with him when he died last month. Michael Jackson's doctor's office was raided as part of a manslaughter investigation in search of his medical records. According to one source, "The search was conducted by members of the DEA, two Robbery-Homicide detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department and Houston police officers. The search warrant authorized law enforcement to search for and seize items, including documents; they believed constituted evidence of the offense of manslaughter."

Miranda Sevcik, a representative for Dr. Murray's lawyer Chernoff, said: "This raid was unexpected to us. All this drama is just not necessary, this is how we feel. Ed's not dismayed about it. He's just trying to figure out what's going on. But he's not worried about it." It is believed that the warrant was tied to the findings of Michael Jackson's preliminary autopsy report and the prescription drugs found in his system. Everything is still pretty vague regarding what the pop star was abusing and what happened prior to Jackson's death. At this point it is no secret that Jackson, with the help of others, was severely abusing prescription drugs and was addicted without a doubt.

The investigation is focused on one particular drug, Propofol according to reports; Propofol is used to put people to sleep before surgery, it is a very strong anesthetic not to be used outside a hospital setting. Sources say, "It is Conrad Murray they're looking at. They are looking for Propofol, along with anything else they find. But Propofol is the big one." Murray was in Nevada when officials raided his office, but, despite his lawyer saying that Jackson's doctor is not worried it is probably fair to say that that is not true.

The truth will come out whether or not Dr. Murray is liable for Jackson's death soon enough. It is fair to say that Dr. Murray is not the only doctor prescribing medications that are potentially fatal despite warnings by the FDA. The fact of the matter is that some doctors have become more concerned with their pocket books than the lives of their patients. Saying no to Michael Jackson was probably a very hard thing to do when you are blinded by money. Life is worth more than money and unfortunately not everyone sees it that way. I am interested in your thoughts as to whether the doctor (pusher) or the addict (patient) is responsible for the ultimate death?

Michael Jackson's Memorial Service on Tuesday

Michael Jackson's Memorial Service on Tuesday was certainly a sight to behold. It was a spectacle with golden casket onstage and the eulogists including Brooke Shields, Magic Johnson and Queen Latifah, to name a few. All of Jackson's brothers were wearing sunglasses and a glove on one hand emulating Michael's iconic style. Jackson's life was so chaotic, yet his funeral seemed rather calm; seems rather ironic that it ended that way.

I feel that a lot of people are in denial about everything, denial about what has been going on with Michael all these years. Everybody said a lot of nice things about him, but nobody wants to talk about the truth. Jackson was in denial about his addiction, and his family was in denial about the seriousness of his disease. Jackson's former medium Uri Geller and ex-bodyguard Matt Fiddes were interviewed by the Associated Press and stated that they tried again and again to help Jackson help himself. They were powerless to stop him, no matter what they did to halt his problem some one else would be right there to give Jackson what he wanted.

Regardless of what could have been done or was done, the fact remains that Michael Jackson made his own choice and was responsible for his own actions. Other people could only do so much for Jackson. He was a tortured soul and his drug addiction fueled his underlying problems. The cause of death has been "deferred" until all the results are in, but the the truth is out there.

Today as we ponder Michael Jackson's life and death. We might ask why didn't he ask for help. I share with you a video of Jennifer Hudson singing "Will You Be There?" This song was written by Michael. As you listen to it, particularly the closing verse...we might ask ourselves "was anybody really listening to his words?"

The lesson for us all is this: when your loved one reaches out for help it may not be in spoken words, but song, actions, or just a look. Take the time to listen.






In Our Darkest Hour
In My Deepest Despair
Will You Still Care?
Will You Be There?
In My Trials
And My Tribulations
Through Our Doubts
And Frustrations
In My Violence
In My Turbulence
Through My Fear
And My Confessions
In My Anguish And My Pain
Through My Joy And My Sorrow
In The Promise Of Another Tomorrow
I'll Never Let You Part
For You're Always In My Heart