You would not believe it by looking at the Rolling Stones however, a new study says rock stars are more likely than others to die prematurely.

A rock star’s lifestyle is not just playing concerts, being followed by avid groupies, partying and living by the notorious motto “Sex, drugs and rock’n’roll” – it is also the risk of dying at a younger age than people working in different professions.

Researchers at the Centre for Public Health at Liverpool John Moores University took it upon themselves to discover just how enviable a rock star’s life really is. After examining more than 1,000 musicians, they found that there is a price for everything.

The researchers found there were 100 deaths between 1956 and 2005, among the 1,064 British and North American artists chosen for the study.

Elvis Presley, “The King of Rock 'n' Roll,” passed away at 42. The Doors frontman Jim Morrison passed away at 27, while guitar Jimi Hendrix died at 27. T Rex front man Marc Bolan was only 29 when he passed away and Kurt Cobain, lead singer of Nirvana, died at 27.

Elvis, Morrison and Hendrix passed away in drug-related deaths. According to the British researchers, whose paper is published today in the Journal of Epidemial Community Health, more than a quarter of all the deaths were related to drugs or alcohol abuse.

“The paper clearly describes a population of rock and pop stars who are at a disproportionate risk of alcohol and drug related deaths,” said Mark Bellis, lead author of the study.

This risk appears to be especially high during the first five years after having achieved fame, the study says. Death rates during this period are more than three times higher than normal.

Bellis noted that Hendrix, Bon Scott of AC/DC and punk rocker Sid Vicious all died within five years of becoming huge.

Interestingly enough, Bellis and his colleagues found that there are differences between British and North American artists, in that the latter are more at risk to die prematurely.

The risk of dying prematurely remains high until around 25 years after their first success for British musicians and then coincides with life expectancy figures common for the general population.

North American musicians however remain almost twice as likely to suffer a premature demise, particularly from heart attack or stroke, Bellis said. Notable examples: Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead, Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys and Johnny Ramone of the Ramones all died in their 50s.

The musicians featured in the survey were chosen from a list of “All-Time Top 1000 Albums” compiled in 2000. The researchers compared artists’ survival rates since becoming famous with expected mortality rates in the general population, matched for age, sex, nationality and ethnic background.

The average age of death of European musicians was 35, while the American average was 28.

The Rolling Stones remain as one exception to the rule. Between themselves, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ron Wood number more than 250 years!