Shawn Lane

[BigShred]

His family should do PSA's about substance abuse. A wonderfully talented person who wasted his life due to substance abuse and an overall terminal lack of health consciousness.

Truly sad.

[Dee]

Huh? Wasted his life? Shawn died because he was ill with psoriatic arthritis.

[GilkyBear]

Am I missing something here? I didn't think drugs had anything whatsoever to do with Shawn's death?? In fact, I have never seen the word 'drugs' mentioned in connection with Shawn's name. (not that I'm the Shawn Lane expert)

[jemplayer55]

Originally Posted by Dee

Huh? Wasted his life? Shawn died because he was ill with psoriatic arthritis.

Actually it's a pretty horrible death..... My wife just had a cousin die from it at 47 yrs old. It caused her kidneys to shut down and her liver got inflamed and she had liver failure in the end. She was in excruciating pain at the very end.

[Tom Gilroy]

Originally Posted by Dee

Huh? Wasted his life? Shawn died because he was ill with psoriatic arthritis.

He died because his lungs were destroyed from years of extremely heavy smoking. The arthritis didn't help, but he'd had that for most of his life.

Look at some performance videos, you can often see a cigarette resting on the headstock.

[BigShred]

Originally Posted by Dee

Huh? Wasted his life? Shawn died because he was ill with psoriatic arthritis.

Of course it's anecdotal, but I've heard it from people in the business that his condition worsened due to little regard from him for his health, his chain smoking and his substance abuse.

Even, for the sake of argument, if you dismiss any notion of him using drugs, his chain smoking alone was reckless and he showed no indication of letting up even when he was in the worst of health.

Point being, that when you're that talented its a tragedy to deprive the world of the joy you could bring them from your music because you've got a self-destructive streak.

[Dee]

Well, I know he smoked weed to relieve the effects of his condition, but I wouldn't go as far as calling that substance abuse. I have never heard of him taking "drugs", as in hard drugs. I know he smoked cigarettes and due to his illness he could barely walk, never mind reach a decent level of fitness, so all things considered, it's no wonder he died. There are lots of conflicting stories about his death, though, some will say it was because he smoked, others will say it's because of the illness he had since he was 13 that finally made him crumble. I think a combination of both is accurate, but I believe if he was fitter in the first place and not so ill with psoriatic arthritis he might have lived longer.

Damn. Who knows. But yeah, it is a tragedy indeed and I wish he was still around. A lot of great musicians have a destructive streak, I think.

[JJEMMER777]

Originally Posted by Dee

A lot of great musicians have a destructive streak, I think.

Yeah....and not only big time musicians, but it seems to go hand in hand with fame and fortune

[waylay00]

It was both. The meds he took for his psoriasis caused him to gain massive amounts of weight, and we all know that extra weight can put a heavy toll on the body. Combined with his weight and his heavy smoking, he developed severe breathing, heart, and lung problems and subsequently passed away.

[NEWYEARKID]

I met Shawn Lane back in 1993 at a clinic he did in Miami. Sadly Shawn was one of those individuals who gave the world much more than he ever got back in return. Once you got past the fact that he was a world class pianist,composer and guitar virtuoso you were shocked to find out how friendly and humble he was. All instruments have that elite group of people whose genius transcends anything we thought possible before their arrival on the scene: violinists had Paganini, piano players had Franz Lizst and Art Tatum, Saxophone players had Charlie Parker and John Coltrane, Bass players had Mingus and Jaco.
No Matter what personal demons Shawn wrestled with in his life-the only person he ever hurt was himself. I'm always reminded of the magic of music when I hear Powers of Ten: that it can take to places you'd never think about without it. In a world where theres no such thing as too much anymore and on an instrument where egos and fingers have the tendency to run wild-We may never see that rare combination of incomparable virtuosity and humility again.
I'd like to think about the music and inspiration he gave us all during his brief life not the factors that contributed to his premature demise.

[JJEMMER777]

Very nice heartfelt post NYK

[waylay00]

Bravo

[GilkyBear]

Hear hear!

[Dee]

Originally Posted by NEWYEARKID

I'd like to think about the music and inspiration he gave us all during his brief life not the factors that contributed to his premature demise.

I couldn't agree more, NYK. I also think Shawn himself wouldn't want us to focus on anything but the music.

[FloridaNative]

Originally Posted by JJEMMER777

Very nice heartfelt post NYK

I agree! Thanks so much for sharing your experience with us.