Trauma and grief have deep roots in the music industry, but healing, support, and community also run deep. Learning how to cope is essential, and the good news is that there are real, practical ways to cope — and you don’t have to navigate it alone.
It’s no secret that working in the music industry can bring distinct periods of highs and lows, offering personal and professional gains at some points and personal and professional challenges at others. Due to the interconnected nature of the business — even across jobs and genres — grief is a common thread that affects many people at once following a death.
If you’re grieving right now:
- Talk to someone you trust; isolation makes grief heavier.
- Set one small boundary, even saying, “I need a day.”
- Drink water and eat something nutritious to help you maintain energy.
- If you’re struggling and need someone to talk to, you can call or text 988 anytime.
Understanding Grief
Grief is the experience of coping with a loss. People often connect the death of a loved one to grief, but there are other life changes and stressors that can result in grief, including job loss, breakups, loss of a home, shifts in identity as a music professional, changes in the industry, or moving through life stages.
Grief is deeply personal and there is no playbook on the best way to cope with it. In 1969, psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross developed the five stages of grief, which are still widely used today. Given that there is no linear path through coping with loss, Kübler-Ross later updated her model to the “change curve,” which accounts for the overlapping — and sometimes repetitive — emotional responses to loss and change. The responses include shock, denial, frustration, depression, experiment, decision, and integration.
A framework like that offers a starting point for understanding why you feel the way you do, but it’s important to remember that individuals grieve and cope in their own ways and on their own timelines. There is no wrong way to grieve.
The Reality of Loss in Music
Suicide is complex and multifactorial, meaning struggles like substance misuse, lack of meaningful social connection, and barriers to help-seeking, incuding stigma and lack of access, can all contribute to risk of premature death. One study showed that popular musicians had significantly shorter life expectancies than nonmusicians and twice the overall mortality rate of nonmusicians of the same age, with elevated deaths from suicide, homicide, accidental causes (including overdoses), and liver disease. The risk was particularly elevated among those under 25 and in genres such as rock, metal, country, and hip-hop.
When Chris Cornell died by suicide in 2017, the location and timing of his death made the headlines, but his more private struggle with addiction and depression over many years did not. There were multiple complex contributing factors that contributed to his death, but those pieces of the story didn’t make the news cycle until family members spoke up. Cornell fought addiction many times in his adult life, seeking treatment along the way. At the time of his death, he had seven substances in his system.
And while the loss of artists are often highly publicized, the music industry is made up of many of many people working outside of the limelight, but also coping with multiple stressors that can increase their risk of mental health struggles and suicide.
Results of the MusiCares 2025 Wellness in Music Survey showed that music industry professionals face an elevated risk of suicide, with roughly 11% of survey respondents reporting suicidal ideation in the past year — up from 8% the previous year and more than double the U.S. general population. The survey also found roughly 15% of respondents lost a music industry colleague to suicide in the past year.
The same MusiCares survey noted that other factors, such as sexual harassment or sexual assault, significantly increased the risk of suicidal ideation. Additionally, nearly 22% of those who tour frequently and roughly 20% of those who lost a colleague to suicide also had suicidal thoughts. The data highlights the importance of using a comprehensive approach to suicide prevention and mental health intervention. It also underscores the need to speak more openly about loss, grief, and help-seeking. Talking early and often about grief helps break isolation and makes it easier to get support.
Types of Grief
Grief is not linear and everyone experiences it differently. Grieving is a normal process with many different ways of presenting. Here are the most common:
- Anticipatory grief: Grieving a loss before it actually happens — often when a loved one has a terminal condition — helps prepare you for the inevitable loss.
- Abbreviated grief: A shorter grieving period following a loss. It often occurs after a period of anticipatory grief, which means the actual loss is less shocking.
- Cumulative grief: Working through multiple losses simultaneously, such as grieving a death while also dealing with the end of a relationship. Processing multiple events at once can be complex.
- Collective grief: A community or group grieving together, often following the loss of a public figure, a natural disaster, or a shared tragedy such as a war or mass shooting.
- Delayed grief: Grief that occurs weeks or months after the loss, not immediately. The delay may be due to the initial shock of a sudden event or being focused on necessary tasks immediately following the loss.
When Grief Becomes Unhealthy
Here’s something you need to hear: There’s no bad time or reason to seek grief support.MusiCares can connect you to mental health and grief support.
But when does grief become unhealthy?
There’s no specific timeline for grief, so it’s important to consider your symptoms and how they impact your daily life. Symptoms may include:
- Feelings: sadness, anger, apathy, yearning, hopelessness, helplessness, regret, or suicidal ideation
- Body: fatigue, headaches, nausea, restlessness, sleep disturbance, changes in appetite, or changes in energy level
- Mind: forgetfulness, poor focus, difficulty making decisions, or slow speech or movement
- Actions: isolation, avoiding work or socializing, irritability toward others, or increased substance use
If any of the above symptoms impair your daily functioning, it’s time to seek help for your grief.
Healthy Ways to Cope With Grief
There is no quick fix for working through grief, but there are steps you can take to process your emotions in adaptive ways.
Allow Yourself to Feel
You may be tempted to keep yourself busy and distracted as you work through grief, but suppression of emotion prolongs the grief process and can lead to burnout. Give yourself the time and space you need to feel your emotions.
Set Boundaries
The music industry is demanding and it’s difficult to pass up an opportunity, but boundaries are crucial during times of grief. Tell your peers what you’re going through and what kind of accommodations you may need as you work through it.
Be Kind to Your Body
Get back to basics to heal your mind and your body. Limit or eliminate substance use, eat well-rounded and consistent meals when you can, keep moving (even if it’s just a regular walking practice), and drink plenty of water.
Use Music to Heal
Music — both making it and enjoying it — has a unique ability to promote healing. Lean into your craft or sit on the other side of the stage for a change and allow music to help you through this difficult time.
Connect to Your Community
Pain thrives in isolation, but the music community is full of people who understand the depth of emotion that can result from grief. Lean on your people for comfort and touchpoints as you navigate this challenging time.
Accept Your Journey
Grief is a process. Your emotions will fluctuate and can be fairly unpredictable. It’s not unusual to experience a flood of memories that cause a mood shift you didn’t see coming simply because you encountered a reminder of your loved one. Accept that waves of grief are part of the process and remind yourself that you’re doing the best you can to work through it.
Seek Support
Loved ones are invaluable on this journey, but some things require professional support. If you are struggling to return to your routine, having trouble eating, experiencing ongoing sleep disturbances, or having difficulty managing your emotions, it’s time to seek professional support. If you experience suicidal ideation, seek immediate help from a crisis line.
In addition to general support, there are industry-based resources that better understand your experience:
- MusiCares offers mental health resources, crisis care, and assistance to find an affordable therapist.
- Meeting with people who understand your unique struggles can also help. MusiCares offers weekly support groups on a variety of topics. Learn more and sign up here.
It’s an unfortunate reality that people in the music industry are disproportionately impacted by loss and grief. Still, healing is possible. When the people we planned to create with for decades have their lives cut short, it’s hard to see a path forward. But you can make it through with acceptance, support, and finding community and professional support.