Fame – that’s what most musicians dream about. In the music business we still live with the myth that once you are famous, all problems are solved. NOT! You will encounter a whole lot of new problems. Many musicians struggle with fame and with being famous. They suffer so much that some of them die far too young, like Kurt Cobain or Amy Winehouse.

Here are the 4 P’s that make it so difficult to deal with fame:

1. Personal Imbalance. Fame does inflate your ego, big time. You feel on top of the world. At the same time it pushes away all the other aspects of your personality. Instead of using fame to develop your full personality, you neglect everything except your ego.
2. Problem-Taboo. Everyone expects you to have problem-free life when you are famous. There is no place to talk about the problems you suddenly encounter.
3. Public-Person. Fame makes you a public person. Everyone wants to know everything about you and your life. You have to sort out how to create a privacy bubble, away from fans and journalists.
4. Pushing & Pulling. While you might have been an outsider at school, people love you when you are famous. From all directions they start to push and pull at you, to get your attention, to make you do what they would like you to do. They leave little space for your own wishes and needs.

There are plenty of musicians who intuitively dealt with all the issues. They succeeded in having a long-lasting career, like David Bowie and Annie Lennox.