This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

[lilly]

Has anybody heard of a famous musician with MS?

[jimmylegs]

besides the osmonds? uuummmmm are any of these famous in your books?

http://www.mult-sclerosis.org/famous.html

[Lyon]

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[patientx]

That is a good post, Jimmy. I did a quick search about Lisa Peck, since cycling and mountain biking was one of my hobbies. Found out she began seriously racing and turned pro AFTER her diagnosis. Great story, but I think it also shows how different the disease is for everyone.

[cheerleader]

Country singer Clay Walker has MS and tours and is doing really well.
Michael Kamen, a terrific film composer, died from complications of his MS in his 50s. My husband is a colleague of his, but younger. He is lucky to be able to work at home. I really feel for musicians who are performers and instrumentalists. MS can completely end the music for them. There's a beautiful, but very difficult to watch, film about cellist Jaqueline du Pre called Hilary and Jackie.
AC

[chrishasms]

I am a musician that lost the ability to play the guitar and drums because of MS.

It drives me ape poopie bonkers!

[jimmylegs]

yea i lost the guitar for a while and it blew chunks. got it back for now...

[MrsGeorge]

I am a trombonist. It becomes difficult when I have right arm weakness because I can lose my grip on my slide. It once ended up at my conductors feet

[flautenmusik]

I am a professional flutist, so of course, the thought of not being able to play is not only heart wrenching, but also financially frightening. I am not the type to quit, so I can happily report that I have been playing without the feeling in the right side of my face. Not an easy task, but I am a very determined person.

[gainsbourg]

the thought of not being able to play is not only heart wrenching, but also financially frightening.....but I am a very determined person

It must be devasating for you to have lost the feeling in half of your face - I come from a musical family and my sympathies most definitely go out to you.

In my (minority) view stress is a massive and grossly underestimated contributor to MS. Not just stress but a whole range of stressful emotional states.

Your determination could prove to be a twin edged sword. Successful musicians tend to be intense, ambitious, emotional people who are driven and determined to get on. Quite often a regular dose of self criticism is thrown in! Admirable qualities in many ways....but a far cry from the relaxed, easy going, laid back state of mind that I believe will best serve you to obtain remission from MS symptoms.

The trouble is, such a state of mind is the hardest thing in the world to achieve when this is such a dibilitating and unpredicatable disease!


gainsbourg

[RedSonja]

I discovered music late in life; as a child I was forced to learn the violin and I hated every minute, the whole "dead white European male" culture repulsed me, I wanted to learn the piano. I gave it up and ignored hand-made music until...
when my daughter was 6 she wanted to learn the trumpet, and I took up the clarinet, just to keep her company. It changed my life. Now I have three clarinets and two saxophones, and play in three bands regularly and plenty of others occasionally.

When my MS is making itself felt I can't play the clarinet the way I used to. In fact when I had my first attack of optic neuritis I was going to the clarinet workshop to see why the left hand keys weren't working properly. It wasn't the clari, it was me. I have more or less given up the paid appearances as I cannot say in advance if I will be able to play on that day, and of course stress makes it worse anyway.

That's why I took up the saxophone, it being much easier on the fingers (sorry, sax players, but it is). I started playing jazz, you do, when you have a sax. Actually, if you hit a wrong note in jazz no-one really minds, you can build on it and keep going.

I don't know whether I could have been a professional musician. If I were I would certainly be having problems now. The professional musicians I know don't pay the bills by performing, they all teach music as well.

I cannot bear the thought that I might not be able to play at all some day.