Many famous musicians have made their fortune very quickly and been swept along by the partying, drink and drugs scenes. They never had any doubt that the money and the fame would continue to pour in automatically, but sadly that was not always the case, and many famous names faced bankruptcy, including Cyndi Lauper, Mick Fleetwood and the trio TLC.
M C Hammer was bringing in millions during the early 1990’s and when he eventually decided to file for bankruptcy in 1996, he had squandered his way through $33 million. His trademark was the parachute pants that he wore on stage. These were huge around the hips and tight at the ankle, and he is said to have spent a great deal of money on these alone. He was certainly a lavish spender and never stopped to make sure that there was more money coming in than was going out. Maybe some credit counselling would have helped.
Andy Gibb had a lot of success in the late 1970’s and moved in a top social set with other celebrities, but ten years later he had become addicted to drugs and was performing wherever he could get work, just to keep some money coming in. In 1987 he went bankrupt and died just under a year later.
Top country singer Willie Nelson who is known all over the world, made millions of dollars, but faced quite a shock in 1990 when the IRS slammed him with a bill for unpaid taxes. $16.7 million is no small amount and his amassed fortune was not enough to pay it. Willie released an album entitled ‘The IRS Tapes: Who’ll Buy My Memories’ which paid off his tax bill and left him free to start again. He was one of the lucky ones who avoided bankruptcy.
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