I would go further and call them outright clickbait fiction. They’re no more reality-based than forecasting the performance of your investments with a horoscope.
Being a musician in a succesful project means usually nothing more than getting a paycheck for a while. In this case, that while was 40 - 50 years ago.
I know several highly regarded musicians that played on million-selling records who had to resort to selling their gear to make ends meet in later years.
Mega hits used to pay their writers surprising sums even decades after the fact, but that’s another type of situation.
Can’t he ask Sir Paul for money? GoFundMe is for people who don’t have billionaire friends.
Billionaires don’t stay billionaires by handing out money to everyone who asks with a hand out.
A quick google sees Laine described as “British born” but resident in Florida. He might not have had access to the NHS for years, or even decades. Funny thing, that - you have to pay UK taxes to get access to a public benefit funded by UK taxes.
People generally have no clue how fast the money runs out when a medical catastrophe occurs until they have one. Even a million dollars doesn’t last long.
Right. I cannot speak for Britain’s NHS, but I do know that here in Canada, it’s not citizenship; it’s legal residency that is required to qualify for universal health care. Laine may be a British citizen, but if he has not resided in Britain for years, he likely does not qualify for the NHS the minute he steps off the aircraft in the UK. As a citizen, he would have no problem entering the UK, but even so, it’s my guess that he would have to spend a period of time as a citizen/resident in the UK before he would qualify for NHS treatment. During which time, he would be paying UK taxes, of course.
No, but a billionaire might consider helping out a mate of 50 years who is fighting for his life.
mmm
ETA: Interestingly, the GoFundMe page shows a $1,000 donation made by Paul Shaffer.
It was a different era, but I met a guy who was a star with the band the Del-Vikings in the 50s. I was a plumber’s helper making minimum wage for the summer before my senior year in highschool. He was a ditch digger for the construction company building the houses we worked in.
He was destitute, working a few days here and there when the company needed him. All his money from his band years was swindled away by the band’s manager. I would sometimes share my lunch with the dude.
Right. I was making the same point, though it was apparently not appreciated.
When I saw this thread title, I remembered reading a while back that Sir Paul paid off the mortgage of Howie Casey, long-time saxophonist with Wings and others, and prolific session musician.
As others have noted above, the fortunes of even successful musicians have gone down over the years. And the income from performing and recording is less sustained than for those who write the songs, or hold the rights to them.
Thank you for the insight. I guess I still can’t wrap my head around him not having insurance. The info on the health system in England is helpful, as well as his inability to travel right now. That makes it make a bit more sense.
I see Devon Allman - likely Gregg’s son - gave $500
I suppose every little bit helps - in the spirit of giving - yet it’s not going to pay medical bills if you’re doing it out-of-pocket unless the Fool on the hill writes a bit cheque. (eta: still haven’t gotten all the UK-isms down)
The UK’s NHS is a huge failure. I had moved from the USA before Obamacare kicked in (and was then sliced up by republicans) yet I reckon that’s a big fail too. You are truly on your own unless you have medicaid/medicare (eta2: or some gold-standard health care such as congress has).
I recall that on a thread a while ago it was firmly established that the way to make money from popular is to be a writer - music or lyrics. If you write something that gets covered by other artists, then the income goes on and on.
Most hit records have a short shelf life. A Denny Laine song covered by the Zombie’s Colin Blunstone reached the Top 20 in 1972, but how many people are still familiar with it, let alone going to buy it, in 2023?
Not too harsh. I kinda concur. Now maybe if he had dedicated his life to charactible dees, then sure.
hardly an everyone!
they were in the same band for 10 years and toured extensively - spending often 24/7 hours together for months on end… so, he’s not just a joe who played on a tape that got spliced into Macca’s work …
Only the Band on the run recordings they spent 6 weeks (Macca, Linda and Denny) in Nigeria in 2 houses next to each other … and 9 years later he was still in the band touring …
oddly enough: I had no idea he co-wrote:
… in 1977 - and being the biggest selling single in the UK until 1984 … so he should have made a lot of dough!
He might have made a lot of money… then spent it. Or been conned out of it. I just don’t know.
I do feel bad for him, but unfortunately after a summer of medical bills myself I just don’t have the money to spare to donate.
Obviously I don’t know about Laine specifically butI think it’s often poor money management. They think that the checks will keep coming forever so living beyond or right at your means for decades will lead to this. Those early big checks, assume that they are the last ones ever and live modestly and plan accordingly.
Denny: Anyone seen Paul lately?
Paul:
I looked at the GoFundMe out of curiosity and the top donor was one Ernest Boch who donated $10,000. Out of further curiosity, I checked out who this guy was. He’s a billionaire who owns car dealerships and is interested in the music scene, and he’s also a Trump fanatic and apparent right-wing nutjob. Don’t know if that says anything about Laine, but there it is, FWIW.
He did support Trump early on, but I haven’t heard him talk about him since 2018. His community, philanthropic, and music work are pretty cool. It definitely sounds like him to donate to help pay Denny Laine’s medical bills.