Lady Gagaargh

A celebrity trend. Lady Gaga is the latest singer to have cancelled a gig (at Purdue University, Indiana) due to physical and/or mental exhaustion, following the recent examples of Lily Allen, Madonna, Amy Winehouse, Susan Boyle and various Sugababes ... and the tragic case of Michael Jackson, whose impending 50-gig residency at The O2 was a factor in his death in June 2009.

This phenomenon is not solely due to the extreme stress endured by high-profile performers who get stage-fright at the prospect of facing fans with astronomic expectations. Although this is a major factor, singers and bands have always had similar pressures.

The new aspect of celebrity culture in our electronic age is that pop singles are sold primarily as web downloads from the likes of iTunes. This means that the stars are making less money than in earlier times from copyright, both in terms of composition rights and mechanical rights of producing a product.

While the music industry tries to work out how to make money in turbulent times of an industry undergoing seismic shifts, performers have to commit to an enormous number of concerts to earn their crust and to keep their profiles in the spotlight.

Hence no downtime, relaxation or opportunity to enjoy success, constantly on-call to an adoring fan base: a recipe for mental and physical collapse. The wonder is how any modern pop star avoids making acquaintance with The Priory at some point in their careers.