All I See Is Darkness
Drug Risk Environments, Alcohol, and Musicians, a Qualitative Case Study of Guns N’ Roses 1991–1997
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22413751 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Myles Balfe (0000-0001-6081-6317, Union County College, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Pages | 1-18 |
| Publication date | 2026-07-10 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Deviant Behavior (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0163-9625 • E-ISSN: 1521-0456 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/01639625.2026.2700629 |
| OpenAlex | W7167896721 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 43 |
This article explores the factors that undermine the health of touring musicians by focusing on a case study of the rock band Guns N’ Roses between 1991 and 1997. Drawing on the sociological concept of risk environments, this article argues that in this period Guns N’ Roses encountered two key risk environments that undermined their health and promoted risk-taking related to drug use, especially heroin, cocaine, and alcohol. The risk factors that were present in both environments that encouraged risk-taking were normalization of risk; liminality and meaninglessness; and social isolation and negative transformation of social relationships. The article argues that taken together, the risk environments that the band encountered placed them in a multi-year situation of highly dangerous permanent liminality.
Injury prevention · Occupational safety and health · Poison control · Qualitative research · Suicide prevention · Gambling Behavior and Treatments · Gun Ownership and Violence Research · Human Factors and Ergonomics · Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
Musicians, the music industry, and suicide
A High Note
Being Better People
Musician occupational and financial stress and mental health burden
Psychiatric diagnoses of professional musicians
‘Crack down on the celebrity junkies’
Destruction, fascination and illness
Permanent (trickster) liminality
Social Acceleration
Changes in drug use prevalence in rap music songs, 1979–1997
That's cool, you’re a musician and you drink”
The ‘risk environment’
Intoxicating stories
A narrative approach to studying symbolic boundaries among drug users
Music and wellbeing vs. musicians’ wellbeing
Vinum Regum
The price of fame? Mortality risk among famous singers
Everyone Does Cocaine”
The Overdose Risk Environment for People Who Inject Drugs Transitioning From Prison to Community in Australia
Tragic Beauties
Crowded Contexts
The Use of Alcohol and Cannabis in Non-Professional Rock Bands in Finland
Risk environments and drug harms
Over here, it's just drugs, women and all the madness
The Use of Drugs by Jazz Musicians
Drinking stories as a narrative genre
Abjection in Nirvana's In Utero
Change and Challenge
Determining Normal Deviance
The Complexity of Deviant Lifestyles
What's the buzz
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |