He even held a fundraiser for Trump. But to be clear, I know nothing about the guy beyond that short Wikipedia blurb. $10K is a big donation and I thought it was an interesting tidbit of info about where it came from.
The health problems started a year ago with Covid.
He has basic Medicare if he has lived here 5 years, so it is not “no insurance.” He just does not have the added plans. Part B/Advantage.
Personally, if I was a billionaire and an old friend or work colleague was in strife i would send money to them directly, not via the public marketplace of Go Fund Me.
No comment on whether McCartney has or hasnt opened his wallet, but the donor lists of funding sites are almost as meaningless and easy to misrepresent as the Net Worth sites.
I find the performing of ostentatious giving creepy and uncomfortable. I suspect PMcC is of an age and upbringing to find it similarly intrusive.
That’s my feeling. I recall a Time Magazine item on Elton John in the 1970s (he would have been in his mid-20s), when he went on a shopping spree, most of which were gifts for friends. He reportedly spent $47,000 that day, if I recall correctly.
Elton somehow managed everything pretty well. Maybe Denny didn’t.
At the same time, I recall a “Sports Illustrated” column by Rick Reilly that talked about all the money that young sports stars get when they sign with the pros. (Paraphrased,) “Do you know how many 44-room jock palaces I’ve seen that have only three rooms’ worth of furniture?” Maybe rock stars do the same, and it comes back to bite them.
Walter Trout, once lead guitar with Canned Heat, then John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, is proof that you have to suffer if you want to sing the blues.
He’s got a bigger following in Europe than the US. I’ve seen him in clubs four or five times and was always blown away by his talent. He had a wild time offstage and in 2013 while touring in Germany he found out he had cirrhosis of the liver.
Out of financial necessity he continued touring. Eventually doctors told him he would need a transplant within 90 days or he’d die. His wife, Marie Brændgård, informed his fan base of their financial needs and he got his transplant. He spent 8 months in bed, had to relearn how to walk, but eventually began to perform again.
This isn’t true. There are parts which are failing after long term cuts, but if you’ve been diagnosed with cancer, the treatment is usually top notch, and as much as they can do as quickly as they can. A friend of mines chemo failed, and she got put onto a gene therapy solution which cost 20K per treatment.
When it comes to the front line, and the normal day to day lower level treatment, this has gone to the wayside in recent times. But if bad things happen, private healthcare in the UK will simply shrug and pass it onto the NHS. It’s often worthless.
Whereas (correct me if I’m wrong), it’s when the bad times happen in the US that the healthcare system shrugs and ups the bill. Perhaps it’s paid insurance works better in those cases, but unlike the US, the concept of Old Age Medical Bankrupcy isn’t a thing in the UK.
Without referring specifically to Laine’s case, there are people who start GoFundMe campaigns to raise money for unapproved and/or outright scam treatments, which health insurance does not cover.
Examples include Mexican cancer clinics and the Burzynski operation in Houston. Bills can easily run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Until very recently, Medicare was legally prohibited from negotiating prices.
The Inflation Reduction Act gave Medicare the power to negotiate with drug companies, adding the power not to buy from drug companies who did not accept the results of the negotiations.
The drug companies argue that’s unconsitutional. Apparently only private companies are allowed to haggle over price and not deal with another company that won’t accept their terms. Breach of freedom of speech, search and seizure and due process.
The judge rejected their request for a preliminary injunction. The main action continues.
Similarly, Denny Laine has continued to make a living off of touring until very recently – July of this year.
Elton owns the publishing rights to countless hits. Denny was a sideman. They get paid by the gig. He stopped playing with Elton 40 years ago. Comparing the two is the epitome of apples and oranges. And even if Denny once had a few songwriting credits, that all dried up years ago. Even with all of his hits, Elton is making pennies compared to what were once dollars in regard to publishing. He makes his money primarily on touring now.
It is sad, but blues musicians often tour until they die out of financial necessity. I saw Son Seals play a friend’s bar in 2003. He died a year later. I helped rearrange his motel room’s two twin beds so that he could have his prosthetic leg in the bed next to the one he slept in. He was a cool guy with a few quirks.
From Wikipedia:
Seals had a hard life. He survived all but one of his fourteen siblings. In 1997 he was shot in the jaw by his wife, sustaining injuries which required reconstructive surgery.[14] In 1999 part of his left leg was amputated as a result of complications from diabetes. He lost belongings in a fire that destroyed his home while he was away performing, and several of his prized guitars were stolen from his home.[15]
I saw Koko Taylor (Queen of the blues) perform in the same club shortly before she died. Her band played a set, then she came out (to a roaring crowd) and did two songs. She had planned on doing three songs, but she couldn’t catch her breath. I thought she was going to die. Her significant other stopped me from calling an ambulance, explaining that she had troubles after each show, we just had to be patient.
Pinetop Perkins (blues keyboard star) lived to be 98. I saw him perform when he was 96. His contract to play my friend’s club called for a body guard. My friend never really read the fine print, so the night of the show he asked me to be the man’s body guard. I was to get him anything he requested. I was worried about the things he might want…but all he wanted was a quart of vanilla ice cream, French vanilla if it wasn’t too much trouble. He told me the story of how when he was a kid, he was playing blues guitar in a bar down south. A girlfriend came in and saw another girl sitting on his lap. She pulled a knife and nearly took his arm off. He could no longer play guitar, but learned piano.
So perusing some online chatter and articles it appears:
A.) He had a drug problem, as so many rock musicians did.
B.) He had tax problems, leading to him selling his rights to Mull of Kintyre to McCartney to pay off a loan McCartney had given him to deal with it.
C.) He had an expensive divorce.
D.) He more than once complained about being underpaid.
E.)He went bankrupt in the 1980’s.
Since E above was post-Wings it can be assumed he never really re-couped whatever lost riches he may have once had and probably is genuinely somewhat broke. Those online net worth estimators are usually pretty worthless.
Another somewhat similar example is Mick Taylor, who may not be dead broke but apparently is no millionaire.
I think the question is: Does he need go fund me or is he leeching off his fans?
In the early 90s I saw Bo Diddly in a little club with maybe 25 other people. There literally wouldn’t be rock and roll without him. He toured solo and got local musicians at each stop to sit in with him for free (which was a thrill of a lifetime for them). He was fantastic and it broke my heart.
that’s the music scene! I saw surf guitar legend Link Wray play a tiny club very late in his life. His guitar playing was amazing, but he “wasn’t all there” other than musically.
His wife (number 4 I think) was in her 30s, and a nut. She saw a woman recording the show and instead of asking her to stop, she began throwing punches.
That might be the tour where I saw him. A couple of friends were in the band. I didn’t know they were doing it for free, but damn, I sure as heck would have if I were a musician presented with the opportunity.
AIUI that was true about medicine, but not services or equipment.
Dick Dale had to keep touring in order to pay for his medical bills-- in 2015 he told an interviewer “I have to raise $3,000 every month to pay for the medical supplies I need to stay alive, and that’s on top of the insurance that I pay for…”
After 37 years in Government Contracting, I can assure you that the Government negotiates with private businesses all the time. This is complete crap.