Elvis Presley: bit the dust at the tender age of 42

Elvis pegged out at the age of 42, Jimi made it to 27 while Buddy was killed at only 22.

Since the dawn of rock 'n' roll, rock and pop musicians have fallen victim to the philosophy "live fast, die young".

Now the scale of wasted musical talent is highlighted in a study which reveals that rock and pop stars are twice as likely to die prematurely as the rest of us.

The research into 1,000 stars of the last 60 years found they were at the greatest risk from drugs, drinks, suicide, car accidents and plane crashes in the first five years of becoming famous.

The British team behind the study say the statistics are so shocking that the music industry should be regarded as a 'high-risk' profession.

They should also act as a warning to the 'X Factor' generation who dream of stardom - along with self-destructive rockers such as Amy Winehouse and Pete Doherty.

Professor Mark Bellis, who led the research at Liverpool John Moores University, said: "At least we are discussing Amy Winehouse before anything terrible happens to her. In all the tragedies we studied it was too late."

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Premature death has become - like sex and drugs - a cliche of the music industry.

From Buddy Holly, killed in the same 1959 plane crash as 17-year-old singer Richie Valens, to the suicide of Kurt Cobain, the 27-year-old lead singer of Nirvana, many in the business regard it as an occupational hazard.

The findings come from a study of more than 1,050 American and British musicians who found fame between 1956 and 1999. All featured in the All-Time Top 1,000 Albums list selected in 2000.

John Lennon: dead at 40

Out of the 100 who died before 2005, at least a quarter were killed by drink and drugs.

The average age was 42 for Americans, and 35 for British stars, says the report in today's Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

In the first five years after becoming famous, pop stars were three times as likely to die as others of a similar age. In the next 20 years, they were twice as likely to reach an early grave.

After 25 years, however, British stars were no more at risk of premature death than anyone else in the UK - suggesting that many have swapped hard drink and drugs for muesli and mineral water.

"The difference is greatest in the first five years, when there are likely to be stresses when you move to being famous," said the professor.

"They are moving into an environment where drink and drugs are readily available."

The roster of stars killed in the first bloom of their careers includes Jimi Hendrix, 27, who came to fame in 1966 and died of an overdose in 1970; Cobain, who shot himself in 1994, five years after his first album with Nirvana; and Sid Vicious, 21, who died of an overdose in 1979 two years after joining the Sex Pistols.

Around a dozen rock and pop stars have been murdered including John Lennon, 40, Marvin Gaye, 44, the rappers Tupac Shakur, 25 and The Notorious BIG, 24, and Al Jackson, 39, drummer with Booker T and the MGs.

Apart from Cobain, suicides have claimed Joy Division singer Ian Curtis, 23, and singer- songwriter Nick Drake, 26, while car accidents killed Marc Bolan, 29, and Eddie Cochrane, 21.

The most famous early death of all was Elvis Presley, who died aged 42 from a combination of drugs and heart failure.

Other drug victims included The Who's drummer Keith Moon, 32, and blues singer Janis Joplin, 27.