Will Grunge Suicide Copycats Continue?

The copycatting among Grunge musicians appears to have extended into the future as evidenced by Chester Bennington picking Chris Cornell's birthday to kill himself by hanging. Bennington reinforced the dark interaction with a repeat similar patterns found in Cornell's suicide.

Layne Staley, Eddie Veddor, Kurt Cobain, and Chris Cornell

The carnage continues.

Suicidology

The field of suicidology (the scientific study of suicidal behaviour and suicide prevention) encompasses overt methods that result in death by suicide, as well as parasuicidal deaths, such as drug overdoses.

In the examination of copycat suicides, the line between suicides and parasuicdes is often quite thin. Or blurred.

Prevention and prediction, based on the anniversary syndrome, are intermingled. And I have done both.*

Grunge Suicides

As we examine the linkages between the much discussed recent untimely death of Chris Bennington and others, we see a direct connecting of the dots. Even the mainstream music media is catching on to what's going on.

Scott Weiland, Chris Cornell and Chester Bennington (Image Billboard)

Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland, Dec. 3, 2015. Soundgarden, Audioslave and Temple of the Dog frontman and solo artist Chris Cornell, May 18, 2017. And now Chester Bennington, singer of Linkin Park, on July 20, 2017 – found dead at 41 on his late friend Cornell’s birthday. In just over 18 months, three singers who helped define a generation of the hard rock sound, who were tied together artistically and personally, have succumbed to the very emotional pain that fueled their music and sold millions of albums over a 30-year-long period. ~ William Goodman, Billboard, July 21, 2017.

The Copycat Effect

Chester Bennington, a member of the band Linkin Park, which has been called "post-grunge" by the media, was inspired and copycatted Chris Cornell. He copied the Jesus Christ Pose in his performances, and even his pug. Bennington sang at Cornell's memorial tribute. He copied the method of suicide (hanging), picked Cornell's birthday to die, and even used the same hanging location (a door between the bedroom and bathroom). The modeling ran deep.

 Chris Cornell and Chester Bennington

This is actually a dangerous time for "Grunge suicides."

Chris Cornell of Soundgarden picked the same date, May 18, in 2017, to die by hanging as had Ian Curtis of Joy Division, May 18, in 1980, to also die by hanging.

Jason Barrera wrote: "Ian Curtis hanged himself listening to Iggy Pop's The Idiot. Chester Bennington died the day before Lana Del Rey released Lust for Life, named after the other Iggy Pop album released in 1977 and the biography of another artist who famously killed himself."

Lust for Life

On 27 July 1890, aged 37, Van Gogh shot himself in the chest with a 7mm Lefaucheux à broche revolver. There were no witnesses and he died 30 hours after the incident.

In 1934 the novelist Irving Stone published an account of Van Gogh's life titled Lust for Life, based on Van Gogh's letters to Theo. This book and the 1956 film of the same name further enhanced his fame. Now we know albums are given this name for a deeper reason.

As noted, Chester Bennington of Linkin Park chose Chris Cornell's birth date, July 20, in 2017, to die by hanging. The choice of dates is purposeful. These people are all interconnected.

August 22

Is there another important date waiting in the wings?

August 22 is the birth date of Layne Staley, a member of Alice in Chains, Mad Season, Class of '99, Alice N' Chains, and Sleze. April 5 in 1994 was the day that Kurt Cobain, died by suicide. Layne Staley made his exit via the parasuicidal method of a drug overdose on April 5, 2002, the anniversary date of Cobain's suicide; a day after former Alice in Chains bass player Mike Starr's birthday.

Layne's body was not found until April 19th. An informal memorial was held for Staley on the night of April 20, 2002, at the Seattle Center, which was attended by at least 1000 fans and friends, including Mike Starr and Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell.

Do people remember Layne Staley's birthday? Yes they do. Eddie Vedder paid tribute to Staley during a Pearl Jam concert in Chicago on August 22, 2016, which would be Staley's 49th birthday; “It’s the birthday of a guy called Layne Staley tonight, and we’re thinking of him tonight too. 49 years old," Vedder told the crowd before dedicating the song Man of the Hour to his late friend.

On August 22, 2017, Layne Staley would have turned 50 years old.

Wood, Cobain, Staley, and Cornell.

The Future

Could August 22 be an anniversary date of some note to those in the Grunge and post-Grunge communities?

Is there something in the air for August 22, 2017? 

People are not paying enough attention to this phenomenon and reaching out to the musicians about the prevention of their suicides.

Suicides of Notable Musicians by Hanging

Pete Ham, guitarist and singer of rock band Badfinger (April 23, 1975)
Phil Ochs, political folksinger (April 9, 1976)
David Munrow, musician and early music historian, (May 15, 1976)
Ian Curtis, lead singer of Joy Division (May 18, 1980)
Tom Evans, a member of the rock band Badfinger (November 19, 1983)
Richard Manuel, musician best known for his membership in The Band (March 4, 1986)
Kim Kwang-Seok, South Korean folk rock singer (January 6, 1996)
Michael Hutchence, lead singer of INXS (November 22, 1997)
Rozz Williams, American musician of Christian Death (April 1, 1998)
hide, Japanese rock musician (May 2, 1998)
Stuart Adamson, British musician of Big Country and Skids (December 16, 2001)
Jon Lee, drummer with Feeder (January 7, 2002)
Paul Hester, former drummer of Crowded House (March 26, 2005)
Simone Battle, singer in the band G.R.L (September 5, 2014)
Chris Cornell, musician, frontman of Soundgarden, Audioslave, and Temple of the Dog (May 18, 2017)
Chester Bennington, musician, frontman of Linkin Park, singer of Stone Temple Pilots, and founder/frontman of Dead by Sunrise. (July 20, 2017)


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*Footnote: My assessment of a variety of factors are a key in predicting human behavior. There is nothing psychic nor magical about it. This was discussed greatly about the Aurora, Colorado/Dark Knight Rises shooting. See Dangerous Minds. And a list of 14 predictions.

I foresaw, after Chris Cornell died, that another would die by hanging.  Synchromystic documentary producer Will Morgan pointed out a deeper level of my forecast, the evening of Chester Bennington's suicide:

 July 20 at 6:23pm

Remove

Will Morgan You may have made this point.... And I just unconsciously absorbed it to regurgitate now... But, that makes twice that one of your predictions came true coincidentally on the same DATE! Correct me if I'm wrong but 7/20 was the anniversary of Aurora.

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

Call 1-800-273-8255

Ground Zero: Taking On The Media Madness

Radio is a perfect place to talk about the altar of wall-to-wall television.

Ground Zero with Clyde Lewis on KXL 101.1 FM in Portland, Oregon, and (apparently) online, will broadcast a live interview with me tonight, Thursday, August 30th, from 7 pm PDT-9 pm PDT / 10 pm EDT to Midnight EDT. The PREMIERE NETWORKS has picked up syndication rights, and it will be broadcast nationally. Check your local listings.

We shall be discussing a wide-range of topics: the red dawn event of Aurora, Tony Scott's suicide, the King Kill 33 aspects, Prometheus, Neil Armstrong, shooter copycats, such as at the Empire State Building, - and the book The Copycat Effect.

Recent postings that may be highlighted include:

• Understanding Aurora As A Synchromystic Fortean
• Predicting Aurora

Aurora Copycat Effect: The Complete List

Red Dawn Again

Aurora: Synchromystic Wonderland

Aurora Copycats: Prepare Now

Anticipating Aurora and Beyond

Red Dawn

Blood Red Movie Massacres

Joker Copycats: 2008-2112

Dark Knight Shooting: 12 Dead, 58 Injured

The Copycat Effect

(NY: Simon and Schuster, 2004)

NFL Suicides: 12 in 25 Years

Another American football player has died by suicide. That makes a dozen acknowledged suicides of relatively well-known National Football League (NFL) players in the last 25 years.

Junior Seau's girlfriend returned from her time at the gym to their home on the 600 block of South The Strand, Oceanside, California. She discovered Seau, 43, in a bedroom, a gunshot wound to the chest, a revolver near his lifeless body. Two weeks earlier, another retired NFL player had also died by suicide.
Tiaina Baul "Junior" Seau, Jr., (January 19, 1969 – May 2, 2012) was an American football linebacker. A ten-time All-Pro and 12-time Pro Bowl selection, Seau was a member of the NFL 1990s All-Decade Team.
He played college football at the University of Southern California and was the progenitor of the "NFL-USC linebacker". He was drafted fifth overall by the San Diego Chargers during the 1990 NFL Draft, later played for the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots, and retired from pro football in 2010.
Seau, who was found dead in his Oceanside, California, home on May 2, 2012, of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, is only the latest among several suicides among football players.

Had Seau attempted suicide before this incident? Seau drove his white Cadillac SUV off a coastal cliff at Carlsbad, California hours after he was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence, on Monday morning, October 18, 2010.
An emergency crew found the 12-time Pro Bowler on the beach below the cliff and he was transported to a hospital where he was treated for minor injuries.Seau, who spent the bulk of his 20-season NFL career with the Chargers, was the lone occupant of the car.
Police said there was no evidence that alcohol was a factor in the crash.
The crash followed Seau's arrest late on Sunday evening on charges he assaulted his 25-year-old girlfriend.He was booked into the San Diego County Jail in Vista early Monday morning and posted bail after 3 a.m. PT and was released. His SUV went over the cliff afterward. Seau said he was going to meet his assistant, Hoffman, for coffee at about 9 a.m. PT, when his car slid off the road near the corner of the 101 highway and Palomar Airport Road. Through his attorney, he said the accident was because of the rain San Diego has been experiencing the past couple days, not any intentional action on his part. Seau claimed he fell asleep at the wheel.
It will be noted that NFL player Kendrick L. McKinley had killed himself on Monday, September 20, 2010, exactly a month before Seau's possible attempted suicide.

The role of concussions, which have been linked to suicides, is being called into question in the NFL. But, of course, we must not overlook the behavior contagion and copycats in what is occurring here. Erratic mood shifts and suicidal ideation appear to be directly related to the injuries to the brain. There is also a definite reason that Seau shoot himself in the chest. He was leaving a message that his brain, remaining intact, should be tested.

Junior Seau, Ray Easterling, David Duerson. Photo: TMZ.

Here's an overview of eleven other NFL players who have died by suicide in the modern era (1987-2012):

Ray Easterling (September 3, 1949 – April 19, 2012) was an American football safety in the National Football League. He graduated from the University of Richmond in 1972 and was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the ninth round of the 1972 NFL Draft.
In 2011, along with several other NFL players, including two-time Superbowl champion Jim McMahon, Easterling filed a federal lawsuit in Philadelphia, against the NFL over its handling of concussion-related injuries. Unlike a similar suit filed in Los Angeles a month earlier, this suit is the first to seek class-action status and potentially include many other players. Attorney Larry Coben, representing the plaintiffs, stated, "The big issue, for us, is they were told for decades to lead with their heads. The NFL would never admit that there's any correlation (to later health problems)."
Easterling died on April 19, 2012, at the age of 62. His death was ruled a suicide. His wife of 36 years Mary Ann Easterling said she will fight to continue the lawsuit despite her husband's death, and will urge the league to establish a fund for players like her husband who suffered traumatic brain injuries from their playing days.

Michael "Mike" Current (September 17, 1945 – January 16, 2012) was an American football collegiate and professional offensive lineman in the 1960s and 1970s.
On Monday January 16, 2012, Current died by suicide by shooting himself in the head with a 20 gauge shotgun at the scenic outlook at Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge near Dallas, Oregon. Current was accused of sexually assaulting three victims, two girls and one boy all 14 or younger, at least five times between 2004 and 2010 in Marion County, Oregon. He allegedly used pornography, such as videos and photos, to elicit sex from the children.
On Tuesday January 17, 2012, Current was set to enter a plea on the charges. He faced a minimum of six years and three months for each of the five sex-abuse charges, a total of more than 30 years without parole, and no chance at reduced time. The Silverton Police Department had been looking into Current since June 17 and were investigating the possibility of other victims. Tara Lawrence, the attorney for the vicitms, indicated that she would be pursuing justice through the civil courts since Current's suicide did not allow the victims to get their day in court. "Our hope is that with Current's death, any additional victims may feel empowered to break their silence and speak out about their own abuse," Lawrence said.

David Russell Duerson (November 28, 1960 – February 17, 2011) was an American football safety in the National Football League (NFL) who played for the Chicago Bears (1983–1989), the New York Giants (1990), and the Phoenix Cardinals (1991–1993). He earned significant honors during his career, including selection to four consecutive Pro Bowls for NFL seasons 1985 through 1988.
Duerson was found dead at his Sunny Isles Beach, Florida home on February 17, 2011. The Miami-Dade County medical examiner reported that Duerson died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest. He sent a text message to his family saying he wanted his brain to be used for research at the Boston University School of Medicine, which is conducting research into chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) caused by playing pro football. He left behind three sons and a daughter from his marriage to ex-wife Alicia Duerson. On May 2, 2011 researcher neurologists at Boston University confirmed that he suffered from a neurodegenerative disease linked to concussions.

Kendrick L. McKinley (January 31, 1987 – September 20, 2010) was an American football wide receiver for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Broncos in the fifth round of the 2009 NFL Draft. He played college football at South Carolina.
McKinley was found dead on September 20, 2010, from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. His death was reported as a suicide by local media, and later confirmed by members of the Arapahoe County Sheriff's office.
A 131-page report was released by the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Department on December 1, 2010, concluding the investigation into McKinley's death. It stated that depression over debt, injury and his post-playing career were the main factors for his suicide. The report stated that McKinley had a gambling problem and was deep in debt.

Shane Dronett (January 12, 1971 – January 21, 2009) was an American football defensive lineman, who played for the NFL's Denver Broncos, Detroit Lions and Atlanta Falcons between 1992 and 2002.
In 2006, Dronett began to exhibit paranoia, confusion, fear, and rage. According to his family, Dronett's behavior changed radically. He was diagnosed with a benign brain tumor in 2007. Its removal did not alleviate Dronett's symptoms.
Dronett confronted his wife with a gun on January 21, 2009. As she ran for safety, he turned the gun on himself. His death was ruled a suicide by the Gwinnett County Medical Examiner's office.
After his death, Dronett's brain was tested at Boston University School of Medicine's Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy. Scientists determined that Dronett suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a brain disease associated with repeated head trauma. According to the co-director of the Center, Dr. Robert Stern, linemen are estimated to hit their heads about 1,000 times in each season they play. While those hits may not result in concussions, the repetitive lesser brain injuries are likely associated with the disease.

Andre Waters (March 10, 1962 – November 20, 2006) was an NFL defensive back who played for the Philadelphia Eagles and Arizona Cardinals from 1984 to 1995. Waters was regarded as one of the NFL's hardest-hitting defenders, serving as an integral part of one of the league's top defenses. On November 20, 2006, Waters died by suicide in his Tampa, Florida home.
Waters ended his life by suicide shortly after 1:00 a.m. on November 20, 2006, according to the Hillsborough County (Fla.) Sheriff's Office, dying of a gunshot to the head. He was at his home inTampa, Florida where he was found by his girlfriend. No suicide note was found.
Shortly after Waters' death, former Harvard defensive tackle and WWE wrestler Christopher Nowinski, whose wrestling career was ended by post-concussion syndrome and has since written a book about the dangers of concussions in contact sports, approached Waters' family and asked permission to have his brain tissue examined. After receiving permission, Nowinski had samples of Waters' brain tissue sent to neuropathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu at the University of Pittsburgh. Omalu believed, having examined the tissue, that Waters sustained brain damage from playing football: he went on to state that this led to Waters' depression.
Omalu determined that Waters' brain tissue had degenerated into that of an 85-year-old man with similar characteristics to those of early-stage Alzheimer's victims. Omalu said he believed that the damage was caused and/or hastened by the numerous concussions Waters sustained playing football. Additionally, Omalu said that Waters would have been fully incapacitated within ten years.
The NFL declined to comment on Waters' case specifically. A member of the league's mild traumatic brain injury committee, Dr. Andrew Tucker, said that the NFL was beginning a study of retired players in 2006 to examine the more general issue of football concussions and subsequent depression.

Terry Luther Long (July 21, 1959 – June 7, 2005) was an American college and professional football player who was an offensive lineman in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons during the 1980s and early 1990s. He played college football for East Carolina University, and thereafter he played professionally for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL.
He died in 2005 from drinking antifreeze. Doctors studied his brain later and believe that brain damage from his football career contributed to his depression and later suicide.

Lawrence Morgan "Larry" Kelley (May 30, 1915 – June 27, 2000) was an American football player born in Conneaut, Ohio. He played end, for Yale University. While at Yale he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity and Skull and Bones, and was the second winner of the Heisman Trophy in 1936, the year it was renamed in honor of John Heisman. His jersey number was 19.
To benefit his nieces and nephews, Kelley sold his Heisman Trophy at an auction in December 1999 for $328,110 to the owner of The Stadium Museum, Restaurant & Bar in Garrison, New York, where it now resides. His health was visibly failing by then after having suffered a minor stroke and having open-heart surgery, and on June 27, 2000, Kelley died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at his home in Hightstown, ruled a suicide by the police. He was 85 when he died. He was survived by his fourth wife and 18 nieces and nephews.

Thornton Steve Stonebreaker (October 28, 1938 – March 28, 1995) was a professional American football linebacker in the National Football League. He played eight seasons for the Minnesota Vikings (1962–1963), the Baltimore Colts (1964–1966), and the New Orleans Saints (1967–1968). Son Mike also played in the NFL.
Stonebreaker died by suicide on March 28, 1995 by subjecting himself to carbon monoxide poisoning from a car exhaust.

Jeffrey Lawrence Alm (March 31, 1968 – December 14, 1993) was an American football player who played defensive tackle for the Houston Oilers of the National Football League.
According to witness, Alm and his best friend, Sean P. Lynch, had dinner at a Houston-area steakhouse on December 13, 1993. At 2:45 a.m. Central Standard Time the following day, Alm’s Cadillac lost control heading south on Intrastate 610 southbound at the 59 north exit ramp and Lynch was thrown out of the car through the passenger window to his death. Alm had been speeding and lost control of his 1993 Cadillac Eldorado on a curved exit ramp. After the crash Alm ran across the ramp and looked down an embankment towards the Southwest Freeway, discovering that his boyhood friend had been thrown to his death 30 feet below. Apparently distraught by his best friend’s death, Alm took out a pistol grip shotgun, fired two shots into the air and then shot himself in the head.

Michael Allen "Mike" Wise (June 5, 1964 – August 21, 1992) was a professional American football defensive end in the National Football League. He played five seasons for the Los Angeles Raiders (1986–1990) and the Cleveland Browns (1991). He was drafted in 1986 by the Raiders and appeared on the cover of a 1990 issue of Sports Illustrated. He wore jersey #90.
Wise was born in Greenbrae, California. He died by suicide at his home in Davis in 1992.

Larry Bethea (July 21, 1956 – April 24, 1987) was an American football defensive lineman who played six years in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys. He later played for the Michigan Panthers, Oakland Invaders and Houston Gamblers of the United States Football League. He played college football at Michigan State University.

Bethea was rumored to have a drug abuse problem dating back to his college days, and cocaine addiction was blamed for the problems he had during his adult life.
His troubles with the law began in 1985 when he pleaded guilty to setting three fires in Mount Rainer National Park in Paradise Washington. He was ordered to pay $1,000 dollars to the park to cover the cost of fighting the fires.
In 1986, he was jailed on charges of assaulting his wife and stealing his mother's life savings of $64,000 dollars. In 1987, he was given a suspended four-year prison term for stealing. The judge also ordered Bethea to serve two years on probation while repaying the money.
In the final incident, on April 24, 1987, police were called by an unidentified source who said the former football player had robbed two convenience stores. Bethea, 30, was later found in a friend's backyard with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his right temple and a .38-caliber automatic pistol near his body. He was taken to Hampton General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 2:08 a.m. The gun used in the shooting and the two robberies was believed to be a weapon that was reported stolen from a parked vehicle in the city.

Russia's Copycats

Pavel Astakhov, the Russian Children Rights Commissioner, said the government must immediately act to prevent and contain the alarming rash of teenage suicides in the country.

Could, perchance, the awareness that I was hoping for in 1987 with Suicide Clusters and in 2004 with The Copycat Effect is finally sinking into the editorial rooms of the global media? 

There have been at least seven cases of teenagers killing themselves by jumping from buildings in Moscow and its environs in the last six weeks alone.

At least in...

Russia has been hit with a wave of copycat teenage suicides so pronounced that President Dmitri A. Medvedev felt compelled on Thursday to warn news media outlets against making too much of the deaths, for fear of attracting more imitators.
“It is indeed very alarming and serious, but it does not mean that it is a snowball that will become bigger and bigger every year,” Mr. Medvedev said. “This must be treated extremely gently.”
The spike in teenage suicides began in February, when two 14-year-old girls jumped hand in hand from the 16th-floor roof of an apartment building in suburban Moscow. Afterward, a series of apartment jumps attracted national attention.
Over 24 hours starting on April 9, there were at least six deaths. A girl, 16, jumped from an unfinished hospital in Siberia, while five others hanged themselves: a boy, 15, who died in the city of Perm two days after his mother found him hanging; another 15-year-old, who killed himself on his birthday, in Nizhny Novgorod, a city on the Volga River; teenagers in the northern city of Lomonosov and in Samara; and a 16-year-old murder suspect who used his prison bedsheet to kill himself in Krasnoyarsk.
There have been at least 10 more cases in the past week, including a boy, 11, found hanging under the roof of his house in Krasnodar.

The rest of the New York Times article, "In Russia, Spate of Teenage Suicides Causes Alarm," can be read here.

A version of the above noted article appeared in print on April 20, 2012, on page A4 of the New York edition with the headline: "A Spate of Teenage Suicides Alarms Russians."

One question for the New York Times: Where are the telephone numbers and weblinks for local or national suicide prevention hotlines at the end of your copycat suicides article (as per the US federal guidelines)?

It is as easy as this, 

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

Call 1-800-273-TALK or Chat