Bruce Springsteen weighs in on toxicity of music industry amid Liam Payne death

Bruce Springsteen has recently reflected on toxicity of music industry in the wake of Liam Payne’s tragic demise.

In a new interview with The Telegraph, the American rockstar said, “It's a normal thing. It's a business that puts enormous pressures on young people.”

“Young people don't have the inner facility or the inner self yet to be able to protect themselves from a lot of the things that come with success and fame,” explained the 75-year-old.

Bruce told the outlet, “So, they get lost in a lot of the difficult and often pain inducing things whether it's drugs or alcohol to take some of that pressure off.”

“I understand that very well,” he remarked.

The Hungry Heart singer shared that he and his fellow band members have all “wrestled with their own issues”.

“Danny [Federici] certainly did. Drugs were not uncommon in the E Street Band, you know. There was a boundary,” continued the musician.

However, Bruce mentioned, “I stayed out of your business, but if I was on stage and I saw that you were not your complete self, there was going to be a problem."

The songwriter further said that if “one of my fellas passed on, they passed on of natural causes,” explaining how the early deaths of music icons like Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Kurt Cobain proved that “people continue to fall to it…it's a death cult”.

“It's a grift, man,” he stated.

Bruce pointed out, “That's a part of the story that suckers some young people in, you know, but it's that old story. Dying young– good for the record company, but what's in it for you?”

Elsewhere in the interview, the songwriter spoke up about his struggles with poor mental health.

“My issues weren't as obvious as drugs,” stated Bruce in a 2012 interview with The New Yorker.

Bruce added, “They were quieter– just as problematic, but quieter. With all artists, because of the undertow of history and self-loathing, there is a tremendous push toward self-obliteration that occurs onstage.”