Why Did Legendary Singers Smoke? || A Video Essay.

A short essay on the changing narratives and stigmas surrounding cigarettes and musicians.
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Voiceover: Milik Kashad
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[@ThePopAttic]

those anti-smoking commercials back in the 2000s did scare me straight! that skin one specifically TRAUMA 😭

[@newprincessofpop9208]

the one with the lady that had the voice box to help her talk DID IT FOR MEEEEE.

[@disbaby94]

That commercial made me itch. God I hated that commercial lol

[@ayoq9956]

YESSS!!! They had anti-smoking that made us RUN away from cigarettes!!!

[@ThePopAttic]

@@newprincessofpop9208 THAT’LL DO IT 😭

[@ReeksAntiques]

The piece of skin 🙈

[@Life_of_A_Man]

A lot of singers' voices changed cause of smoking. I can still notice things. Frank Sinatra's voice lowered. Dionne Warwick had amazing highs in the 80's despite smoking. I believe it caught up with her in the 90s. Singers use to smoke to get a rasp and texture to their voices. It was the chic thing to do. Longtime smokers produce raspy undertones in their speaking and singing voices. It's kinda like vocal fry.

[@Imadeyoumad288]

Damn all dat at the risk of aging🤣👨🏻‍🦳

[@merkospav8777]

Lemmy Kilmister is a prime example of amazing vocal fry due to smoking

[@kadencagle3806]

It’s kind of like vocal fry in sound but how most smoker rasps are actually formed are with breathiness (letting nonpitched air through your vocal folds) and false fold adduction (pulling your vestibular folds closer together) in turn adding a layer of noise to one’s voice. It can be done without smoking healthily and is a natural part of the human voice.

[@mjgII]

@@kadencagle3806 the focal volds thicken due to the chronic exposure to the smoke, it's not a technique you can learn

[@kadencagle3806]

@@mjgII well I’m telling you it’s a technique done with the vestibular folds. The reason that smoker’s have certain types of rasps is because of nodules forming from smoking. Nodules make the complete closure of the vocal folds harder, letting unvibrated air through the vocal folds resulting in breathiness. It is common people will make up for this lack of closure by employing some use of the false folds or vestibular folds leading to a variation of“smoker voice”. The reason we can do this healthily is because we can add breathiness without having nodules. We can also move our vestibular folds at will with practice. We can direct this air with enough contraction into the vestibular folds and create a smoker-like texture or many other textures. Beyond this using your vocal folds in a way that sounds smoker-like or even using your vocal folds in a “thick” way is also anatomically possible for any gender. You don’t need to smoke to have a thick deep voice.

[@Artluvmjay88]

Also a lot of vocalist were stressed due to pressure, concerts, finances and etc. So, they rely on smoking to exhale their stress-free thoughts, and other issues they were having in the industry.

[@emilionema]

true. that also came with drug use and heavy drinking.

[@BlackMusicArchive]

I think smoking like most addictions starts off social then becomes a habitual stress management tool.

[@ArtTheSinger]

I think it just being human. Some people pick up habits doesn’t matter the talents.

[@BUDOKAIultimate3]

They relied on more than that.........

[@SmartRobot-wc2fb]

@THinshaw1992 Yes, most voices do age and tend to become low, but there's always an exception. There are many singers whose voice has matured well such as Donna Summer's or even Gladys Knight's to name just 2. If you go listen to them both live since their debut and up to very recently, you'll learn that their voices haven't changed much and that regardless their age, they still can reach their highs as in the beginning. Gladys Knight also has another explanation for that which is the fact she never sang out of her natural voice range too much. Which is also true. You shouldn't strain too much your voice down the road.

[@primeloses9633]

Did you know, we owe our two 15 min breaks at work to cigarettes. Cigarette lobbyists got the government to guarantee two smoke breaks for every employee, and that mandate still stands today.

[@ninamo7969]

Whitney was surrounded by almost an entire family of smokers. Both her parents, her older brothers, older cousins like Dionne, several ants & uncles and also family friends like Aretha smoked around Whitney. Some of them also smoked weed around her. It was Whitney's older brothers who learned her to use drugs. At that time Whitney was around 14 years old and didn't know anything about the dangers. Whitney had several childhood and adult traumas that also fueled her drug use. Enabled by too many drug users (brothers e.o.) close to her and dealing with mental issues she couldn't heal from, it was only a matter of time to die from it all. Whitney did seek professional help several times, but it was an unfair fight she couldn't win.

[@hds.22]

🐜 😂 it’s ok I know what you meant

[@hds.22]

*taught her how to use drugs

[@hds.22]

This is very informative. Thanks so much for elaborating on this topic!

[@ninamo7969]

@@hds.22 Unfortunately her brothers both did and didn't think about what it would do to an insecure teenage girl. Even worse is that they never took action to save Whitney when drugs were ruining her life. On the contrary, they kept using around her and enabling her when she tried to stay clean and take back her life. Whitney's brothers, Bobby and her father also did everything they could to get her best friend out of her life. Robyn was the first of several people to raise the alarm that Whitney needed urgent help. She tried to stay in Whitney's life and help her, but unfortunately under the pressure of her family and influence of drugs.....Whitney chose her family and let Robyn go. I also find it very strange that no one took action to help her while the world could see Whitney had relapsed and was clearly struggling the last days of her life at the Hilton hotel. Her entourage could at least have stayed close to her and watch her to prevent the horrible death Whitney died.

[@SkinShapes]

@@ninamo7969 she was so deep at that point and paying most of the families bill though. I don’t think they wanted to rock the boat. Which is very sad.

[@ayoq9956]

It’s so interesting how over time so many things change. I feel like things are never explained to us about previous generations, no one ever shares the CONTEXT! Cause who’s to say a lot of us wouldn’t have smoked either if it was marketed THAT HEAVY to us!

[@dominiquedevereux7205]

@Hannah Bride PREACH. That whole "What goes on in this house 🏠, STAYS in this 👇🏾 in this house" did & STILL does a lot of us in 💀⚰.

[@bemusedobserver6476]

It was marketed to us out of pure disregard for people's health! From the very beginning, tobacco companies knew how addictive tobacco was -when they saw the addiction, aspects they up the amount of nicotine. Their only interest was and still is capital.

[@divatalk9011]

It's amazing how those cancer sticks are legal while the war on "drugs" still carries on

[@Morning404]

*legal ❤️

[@divatalk9011]

@@Morning404 yes ha!

[@dominiquedevereux7205]

EXACTLY. The Govt. just decides WHICH drugs are illegal based on THEIR ability to profit from said drugs & the NARRATIVE they're trying to push @ given time@!

[@divatalk9011]

@@dominiquedevereux7205 It's inherently contradictory

[@bmwjourdandunngoddess6024]

@@divatalk9011 That’s because the war on drugs is PURPOSELY used to harm Black Communities. And Brown ones.

[@KillbotAndGorGorAttack]

David Bowie quit smoking in the early 2000s, his producer said he got five octaves of his voice back

[@1sava]

"The singing is more dangerous than the smoking" 😂😂😂 ***proceeds to attempt Aretha's upper belts without warming up anyway***

[@earthshaker1217]

Ohmygoodness. This history lesson is wonderfully crafted. Especially that part about Millennials because I was born 1991, and I distinctly remember anti-smoking ads more than pro-smoking ads. Now it's to the point that when I imagine a time where cigarettes are so readily available to any and everybody, I shudder. I bet everybody stank lol.

[@iolairesino]

I was born the same year.

[@suavehinrg]

Singers, musicians and smoking (either tobacco or cannabis or both) is an open secret amongst the levels of singers. I rarely ever hear it discussed but am aware they do. From some of my own observations, those who do not smoke at all usually drink alcohol. It seems to be a rare few who do not smoke nor drink at all. It is still prevalent amongst the younger generations especially through vaping.

[@spongebob03]

I remember watching Waiting to Exhale, in the theaters. The scene, when the ladies are sitting at a table, in the club. I see Whitney, holding a cigarette. Im a thirteen years old, at the time. I still remember thinking, “WHITNEY SMOKES!!! BUT…. HER VOICE!” Little did I know. 😔

[@mykoniichistorychannel]

I remember seeing her smoking on "Being Bobby Brown", and my sister told me it was going to ruin her voice, I didn't know there was anything wrong with it for a vocalist until my late teens/early 20s.

[@Thegazelle1000]

I remember saw her smoking on the bodyguard, I was like "is she really smoke or it just for the movie?". Then I found out that she was smoking since she was teenager. Her voice was strong, because imagine how her voice would be if she never smoke.

[@spongebob03]

@@Thegazelle1000 I remember thinking that, when she was promoting, Just Whitney. I think she was performing on a VH1 special. Her voice sounded hoarse.

[@spongebob03]

@@Thegazelle1000 I don’t know how I forgot about that one.

[@skip031890]

I remember seeing an old picture of her sitting at the dining table with her two brothers and she had a cigarette in her hand. She couldn't have been no more than 17 or 18 years old. I was shocked.

[@j.r.765]

Legends like Sammy Davis Jr refused life saving throat cancer surgery so his voice wouldn't be forever damaged, and his singing scarred. It's sad and immense the impact cigarettes' have contributed to all singers' art craft and look.

[@ThingsILikke]

It was probably the right choice tbh- throat cancer is vicious and surgery will cause a lot of pain and a very low quality of life only for the cancer to return in a very short amount of time.

[@rochellethompson9854]

Yes, but, unfortunately he drank and did drugs! He was an AMAZING Entertainer!🎩🦚🎤🎼🎹🎶🎵💄💖💝💞💕❤💙💜

[@guhsuckyamudda586]

A 5 and a 1/2 minute minute video that still manages to be thoroughly informative, beautifully crafted, and satisfyingly edited.

[@marjorjorietillman856]

And smoking was extremely addictive, especially the ones my mom smoked. My dear Mother started smoking in the early 70s, when it was still supposedly fine. But my mom smoked for 30 years and the damage was already done, and it was hard for her to quit. It caused a major heart attack! (RIP)

[@elizabethjordan5755]

My mom and her family smoked since their youth back in the 50's. She recalled even the doctors smoking at the local hospital where she worked as an RN. It was so normal, that us kids would be sent to the store to buy cartons, no questions asked. Mom smoked over 45 years, quitting cold turkey only after the death of my older brother. Ironically, her lungs didn't give her problems till after she quit. She developed COPD and needed an oxygen machine until her death. I never picked up the habit. RIP, Mom. 😥

[@avaangora]

The younger generation is smoking again thanks to vapes. I’m a millennial and I watched all my boomer relatives die agonizing deaths due to lung cancer. I’ll never smoke but I understand why they did it, doctors told them it was healthy! Who knows what habits we have today that we think are healthy…

[@Moreeelifeee]

Healthy or just not bad for them?

[@omarsomehow69]

That was all about agenda. Callas, Tebaldi, Della Casa, Di Stefano, Bastianini etc. A lot of big opera singers smoked back to those days.

[@jonathanholley3407]

The one that always blew my mind was Pavarotti.

[@phyllispierce6146]

I took voice many years ago and at the time I smoked. In an effort to get me to stop, my voice teacher told me to smoke stronger cigarettes hoping they would choke me and I'd stop. Didn't work and at the time my idols smoked! So I didn't try to stop then. Been cigarette free for four years this month. The smoking did lower my voice though, but I can still sing thank goodness!

[@eeee8479]

Do you have any recordings out there?

[@phyllispierce6146]

@@eeee8479 No.

[@OGseoulite]

This gave me courage to kick smoking cigars again, I want my healthy voice back and I can’t have that while I’m still smoking this crap, I don’t know how I even started. I just know that I have the will to stop it & never pick it up again.

[@Skooh2000]

When I was in high school, my chorus teacher smoked in the chorus room while we rehearsed. So did my band teachers. My asthma was of the charts back then.

[@kimberlyjade4094]

Thank you for using Whitney as an example, folks act like she was the only singer who smoked..

[@emilionema]

your channel is so needed. I'm glade you are teaching everything about black entertainment and how important it is for the younger generation to learn from 🥰🥰🥰

[@rumseyh]

I remember going to see Chaka in concert back in the 80's... and during the band intro, I saw the "red/orange light" from her last minute "toke" offstage... right before she hit the bright white lights of the main stage! She then proceeded to tear it up (vocally speaking)! Unfortunately, in CK's situation... (in my personal opinion), it doesn't help that 2 of her biggest musical influences (Sarah and Billie), smoked as well.

[@manuelhodgson3736]

love this video! wouldn’t have expected it!

[@TheSeeking2know]

Very informative as always. There's so much potential content with all the footage you have access to putting together.

[@kimberlyjade4094]

If you make a list of the 50 most iconic/legendary singers…I guarantee you about 40 of them smoked.

[@lovethefields]

Omg I asked this question in a chat and you actually did it!!!! This made my week 😁🙏🏾

[@user-with-integrity]

thank you for uploading this content again. i looked for your original channel and it was nowhere to be found.😭😭😭 i can't wait for the videos of the impacts of smoking on the famous singers. 🙏🏼♥️

[@dominiforelli]

This channel has been very informative. I love the topics and the commentary. Please don’t stop these videos. I love watching these when I’m under the weather or just cause. Thank you kindly for this channel.

[@charlita25]

I use to smoke 💨 cigarettes to build rasp in my voice. But it backfired and decreased my range 🚬 never again.

[@thatboycjsings]

This is such a great topic!!!

[@jboyd2891]

I’m glad I came across this channel. New subscriber. Great content!

[@BlackMusicArchive]

Thank you 😊

[@blacktoads]

this was filled with astonishing information. thank you for making these.

[@KnownAsEllyot]

I never knew how common smoking was for the legends. Thank you for this! I would love to see a break down of Lisa Fischer’s How Can I Ease The Pain live in Japan or Lisa in general. I feel like that particular performance was such a master class.

[@aderetta]

Brilliant video once again!!!

[@iamgabrielhutchinson]

Such a great topic!!!

[@JimRockfordFiles]

Della Reese, Diahann Carroll, Albertina Walker, Lou Rawls, Chaka Khan, Pink, Bruno Mars, Adele all smoked. Shoot, Dionne Warwick is 81, and she still smokes. Not to mention Cissy Houston who is much older still smokes cigarettes 🚬

[@BlackMusicArchive]

There's a TMZ interview of Chaka from a couple years ago and when they questioned her about smoking, she said she'll stop when it affects her voice. So many of that generation did and still do believe cigarette couldn't do much to their voices.

[@JimRockfordFiles]

@@BlackMusicArchive AND there is a video out asking Dionne the same and she responded as we know she would, lol, very direct, sassy, and to the point! She talked about all the pollution we breathe in and no one says anything about that. Lol. Dionne is thee boss lady. And she’s gearing for her European tour 2022!!!! 🚬

[@skip031890]

@@JimRockfordFiles Cissy looks like she has one foot in the grave right now. I doubt she is still smoking cigarettes. She's at the point in age now where the brain is starting to go.

[@10RexTheWolf01]

0:29 How is the cigarette still lit WHILE they're jet skiing?

[@mykoniichistorychannel]

Talent

[@kevonwill5783]

Lmfao exactly

[@kellyjackson6548]

Thank you so much for this essay! I always thought if the greatest singers didn't smoke or do drugs, they would be still here and so much healthier. It still amazes me how powerful advertisements affect peoples' lives.

[@sanchez73day36]

Why did I smoke. 🙄🤔umm social smoker in the beginning after that stress smoking, after sex, during bathrooms, after eating, when I’m bored . 1 yr smoke free 😣

[@sistamaryclarence]

Congrats on a year smoke free.. it’s definitely a hard habit to quit 😫😫 I’m trynna get like you or at least cut back lol

[@nsteak4236]

Congrats , keep it going 😊

[@Cyber_Diva]

Thank you for this context.

[@Neimm]

I am a sort of wanna be singer, performer. The producers I work it’s smoke like crazy. It’s come to the point I’ve started to do things on my own. Being around smokers can really affect the health of those who don’t smoke

[@amiehampton7070]

That was a great video. My mom is a smoker back then but she quit since after she got the surgery on her stomach. She is still doing good and healthy.

[@2ndMess]

Adele, Britney Spears, and Utada Hikaru also smoked.. it's really not a thing of the past. Not just yet

[@renanrpm]

But nowadays people do it knowing the effects and do it for different reasons. That’s the point of the video.

[@BlackMusicArchive]

They were born around 1980 I believe? So they are the last generation exposed to heavy cigarette/tobacco through billboards/magazines etc. When the ads are banned in 1998 Britney Spears is already a superstar. So the 1990s millennials would be the ones who grew up with anti-smoking propaganda.

[@SteadyNUnremitting]

@@BlackMusicArchive The 80s millennials were too young to remember smoking being seen as cool. By the time they got into their pre-teens, smoking was being seen as a negative and unhealthy

[@renanrpm]

@@SteadyNUnremitting Dear, it’s not about just being “seen” as unhealthy and negative, but it’s something cultural and rooted in the society. People nowadays know very well that drinking and driving is not a great thing, but they still doing, ‘cause this bad habit was not vanished yet from the cultural background of the society.

[@phyllispierce6146]

I believe Bruno Mars smokes, but hopefully I'm wrong!

[@MrDLOC11]

There is a pleasure that comes from smoking, especially as a temporary relief from sudden anxiety or too much stress. So no matter all the warnings of danger in the long run, in the short run smoking works.

[@wefinnasee7067]

Yep - some smoke others eat chocolate cake. Addiction is no joke.

[@MaddieSchnitzel]

The pleasure comes from jaw movements. When they become steady, so does your breath. And thats how anxiety lowers. It has nothing to do with the substance. Ofc im talking tobacco.

[@darrylmilling2747]

When I did my internship with Earthsong Entertainment Chaka Khan record label. I remember 2 things she smoked cigarettes and drank alot of water at room temperature.

[@darrylmilling2747]

Yes she does and still drinks plenty of water

[@iantuition]

She's smart because drinking room temperature is great for the vocals, and the hydration is needed to combat the effects of smoke. She might want to add hot tea and/or ice water to drink when she is actually smoking.

[@weotalks2810]

Smoking is the WORST THING FOR ANYONE

[@kazkazzie3906]

This explains why Cissy and Dionne have deep, husky voices.

[@savannahf8721]

I was born in 1997, I remember seeing the occasional Newport magazine ad, but I was more exposed to anti-smoking. Also witnessed the effects of smoking/bad habits on older people around me via cancer, heart disease, etc. my job still has an outdoor smoking area though smh

[@PHlophe]

um.. 1997 i was 18 and my daughter was born in 1998 ,. as a new grand dad i sometimes forget that my daughter is too young to even remember seeing cigarettes on billboard ads. in my days there was tons of people with throat cancer. some had a tool that replaced half of their carrothide i think this is how its called , meaning when they would speak . they would legit sound like a radio . in 2022 the medication and treatment has improved so much that its impossible to find anyone with that. i was a kid during an era where you step out of the taxi and walk straight to your plane with cigarettes in your hands. and as a mid teen in the 90s it was pretty much normal to see kids as young as 13 smoke half of a pack a day . but all in all the 90s were a god awful decade socially . its a lot of shiet that was awful back then that wouldn't fly in 2022

[@danielwetzel7777]

It's really only when you start coughing a lot from smoking that you'll notice a change in your voice. Freddie Mercury and Paul McCartney too

[@alphadog9589]

Please keep grindng brother you make amazing content and have alot of extensive knowledge & high quality videos about the music business.

[@corneliuswhite5139]

Great post! Also, opera greats Montserrat Caballe, and Franco Corelli smoked. I believe Montserrat, known for her technique, pianissimi and legato singing once spoke about it, and how it didn't bother her. Chaka Khan also wasn't too much affected by it (although, I believe she stopped). For me, as a singer, the nicotine gave me headaches and nausea. But I remember as far back as high school, you were considered"cool" if you smoked. 🙄😏

[@ThePopAttic]

yup marie CHEWED THAT UP! 4:12! “THAT’S WHERE”

[@GabrielGabriel-zq2ci]

Today the dangerous for the voice is the weed. It can be not as dangerous as cigarettes, but It still dangerous if weed be used as smoke.

[@heroxzq1263]

all smoke inhaled is damaging.

[@bobbachelor5930]

Excellent ! Excellent ! Excellent !

[@tylerhackner9731]

Great topic

[@inah4923]

I enjoy watching your videos

[@HARLOWETV]

GREAT CHANNEL!

[@amiehampton7070]

That video you did is fantastic. Smoking cigarettes could cause damages to the body and it could cause cancer .My late grand father was a smoker and a drinker before he had lung cancer and he died in his earlier 80s 19 years ago.

[@BlackMusicArchive]

To support this channel in its efforts to continue making quality and accessible music education content please consider a donation: paypal.me/blackmusicarchive cash.app/$BlackMusicArchive account.venmo.com/u/milikkashad Zelle: [e-mail]

[@daimonmarioperez9501]

Eddie Kendricks

[@weotalks2810]

@@daimonmarioperez9501 I OPENED for EDDIE KENDRICK, Talked to him in DEPTH, what a KOOL DUDE, Told me to never take up SMOKING,I watched DAVID RUFFIN smoke backstage,NO warmup killed the CROWD,BUT the last 2 years on earth he DAVID STRUGGLED..AND POOR EDDIE COMPLETELY LOST HIS VOICE..RIP

[@daimonmarioperez9501]

@@weotalks2810 Thank you. Eddie kendricks is my all time favorite singer.

[@lovethefields]

Amazing that Sarah’s voice only seemed to get better

[@rochellethompson9854]

@@lovethefields Yeah, and she smoked, drank, did drugs and sounded heavenly, but, it caught up with her at the end, she had problems breathing like Carmen!😥💔💔💔

[@Introvertsan]

I think it was to relieve stress, manage weight, etc

[@torrieferguson4673]

Good job documenting this never knew cigarettes was an it thing to do

[@heaven_spark]

Can you make a video on the history of black people that where introduced to European christian music and how they upgraded it?

[@heaven_spark]

@@vocaleditz9483 Yes he said a sentence about it in a video “why the new girls can’t sing”

[@armandosanchez4978]

"Upgraded it" K

[@christopherbrown5409]

"Upgraded"? Why not just "remixed"?

[@theeepidural6144]

@@christopherbrown5409 cause ig it was an upgrade and more innovative

[@christopherbrown5409]

@@theeepidural6144 who are you to say whether or not it was an upgrade, though? Where do you get off invalidating traditions in others' cultures? When, mind you, you'd be furious if they did it?

[@sistamaryclarence]

Another great video💜👏🏾 …as I light up a cigarette 😂😫

[@norvisnorvis7592]

Thank u so much. 🤗

[@rycroftphilostratem3536]

There was no escaping after all, even if you didn't smoke at that time, everyone did it so you were a passive smoker, inhaling the smoke anyways.

[@Worme95]

I read that Nat King Coke smoked to make his voice sound deeper. It ultimately killed him.

[@amiehampton7070]

Yeah he had cancer

[@cmooreHD]

Ceelo is one of my favourite male voices and he’s a heavy heavy smoker…

[@michaelcain9324]

Horrifying. Great video.

[@beasaroseco5840]

Children were allowed to buy them when adults sent them to the store.

[@rafeeqturner1458]

Wish Netflix didn't promote cigarette smoking so much

[@2119adele]

Well Damn!

[@theeepidural6144]

lol well the new generation may not be smoking cigarettes, but weed is def taking it’s spot😂

[@Broadwayriah]

though I don’t think Weed affects the voice and lungs as badly as cigarettes (correct me if i’m wrong)

[@theeepidural6144]

@@Broadwayriah i think for the most part you’re right. Your lungs prob won’t be as badly affected but it will def dry out the vocal cords and cause rasp. i almost lost my middle voice over quarantine due to not practicing (cause church was closed) and smoking weed a lot more😭 but i was able to build it back and i smoke occasionally now

[@DAYSTAHR]

@@theeepidural6144 sameee. Weed drys out my cords and makes my mixed voice so much softer

[@kendallcrenshaw7450]

I Started Singing Again Since I'm An Actor & Now As An Adult I Smoke Black & Milds. I'm A Jazz Singer But When I Was Six I Sung Tener I Wanted To Be A Soprano. Now I'm A Beratone, I Still Have Soul. I Need To Stop Though, However My Voice Gets Empowered With A Smoke & Tea 🙏🏾🙌🏾

[@LDSW]

Wow...definitely remembered being able to go to the store during the 1960s at 13 to buy cigarettes for 25 cents for kings and 30 cents for 100s. Those were also the days where I was able to buy Hoppin' Gator (alcoholic drink that's the like today's wine cooler). Even physicians smoked as they attended their patients. My gynecologist smoked while examining me before I gave birth in 1970. No comments or questions back then. Lots of memories of stars (Nat King Cole always had a cigarette between his fingers from the start to the end of his weekly TV program). Everything changed during the 1970s, even though selling cigarettes to the underaged and enforcing non-smoking laws were slow in coming. Smoking on planes, buses, in stores was commonplace. Employees could smoke at their desks at work, but that practice went away by the late 1980s. The law firm where I worked during the mid-1980s left open a loophole for the lawyers who didn't want to go outside -- a dedicated conference room with a door to allow them to smoke their cigars, cigarettes and pipes. Those lawyers didn't want to stand outside to smoke ike the support and clerical staff because they were too proud or stuck up or full of themselves. So...what do you think the support start doing? Do what the lawyers dio -- smoke in that designated conference room. Inside smoking ended when the local government started enforcing non-smoking laws during the 1990s.

[@faznout]

It's not a question of why did these singers smoke if they knew the dangers of it. It's the fact that these singers smoked because they wanted to, no matter if they became singers or not. Just like in today's time, even back in those days people knew the dangers of cigarettes. Just the same way people know the dangers of unhealthy eating, alcohol, and drugs. The same thing goes for marijuana. As most of us know for many years the government used to say that marijuana was bad for you just like cigarettes. It can cause health problems, erase brain cells, affect your judgment and everything else. But now the tables have been turned and with marijuana being legalized in the last several years all of a sudden it's not bad for you anymore. But back then just like in today's time a lot of people like to mask the truth about many things and continue to do what will eventually hurt them. It all really comes down to the fact of the matter of some people just don't give a damn until it's too late. Back in the day doctors used to tell people to smoke to calm their nerves and to relax them, just the same way today's doctors give people marijuana to so called "help them" with their problems. But both of them are a slow killer and when the person ends up in the hospital from it, those doctors are no where to be found to save them. There were a lot of people who died from covid because they were heavy marijuana smokers and it did the same thing to their system as cigarettes do.

[@Smokinggirls-zq9wl]

Miss these days

[@skylarfoxx2811]

Does anyone stop and think maybe we smoke not because of marketing but because we like it. Other things that are bad for you are drinking, tanning, over eating and the list goes on.

[@freddieblue6351]

Thank you!!! People had their own personality back in the day…not sanitised and plastic like nowadays.

[@FatBabyCheeks]

I had friend who was a fantastic singer and she smoked her butt off and we knew the dangers of smoking in the 90s! lol I used to smoke but quit because it caused me to lose all my energy. One can only imagine how even more magnificent these amazing talents would have been if their bodies hadn't had to compensate for the effects of cigarette smoke.

[@seand67]

They also allowed the 'cancer sticks' in hospitals back in the day...smh

[@blackpalacemusic]

My voice has definitely gotten better since I stopped smoking, but I must admit I know some really good singers who smoke.

[@mannyfrencha5736]

Good info! I have some older buddies in their 60s now, they've told me that in elementary school, they would receive cigarettes from school. My mom told us my 2nd eldest brother (R.I.P.) began smoking around 13. It just goes to show how profits nullify the health of people. And then ties into the circle that's correlated to keeping folks sick and running to a doctor. Gratitude again for showing this info✊️. The marketing was wild and literally OUTTA POCKET in so many ways

[@denys9903]

I want to smoke right now!!!

[@Trunksytube]

That menthol skin commercial will be a memory of mine for the rest of my life. That one and the people with holes in their throat guaranteed I’d never smoke a cigarette

[@Worme95]

I remember the magazine advertisement

[@hyacynthwiz]

i understand smoking can get any health problems especially respiratory health such as lung cancer and heart disease, actually my uncles are smokers and even my mom occasionally smoke sadly one of my uncle passed away due of his lung asthma, also some teens and young adults are still smoking for me whether you smoke ciggarettes or even marijuana as just every people called it weed its better to moderate your unhealthy habit or just quit to smoking especially if you had early signs of respiratory problems

[@akrenwinkle]

As far back as the 1940s, cigarettes were informally called "coffin nails." Yes... people knew what was obvious. But they thought, "It'll happen to someone else."

[@hereforit2347]

Aretha Franklin’s vocal quality began to noticeably deteriorate by the mid-to-late 70s. By the 80s it was gone. 😢

[@JimRockfordFiles]

Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. smoked

[@nasimaali9646]

Pls do an explained on Dionnes voice

[@jefflawrence5835]

Cause they’re stressed the fuck out like the rest of us! Rip miss Whitney, you are the greatest of all time!

[@KennyGorehound]

I smoke because I can’t get rid of the abuse, but I do still keep trying.

[@jstarzz3780]

WOW 😣😳😳😣

[@UhOhJacquinette]

I remember the “smoking era” I was a kid swept up by it.

[@fredkelly6953]

They smoked because everyone smoked.

[@superlunary2015]

Bruno Mars smokes like a chimney and drinks without restraint. I don’t get how his voice is still so good

[@terencejulius8734]

Bruno Mars can't sing he voice be straining trying to hit those high notes ..... Anybody that says Bruno Mars can sing literally is tone deaf and have no intelligence on music

[@spongebob03]

@@terencejulius8734 not a fan of Bruno. He has one song and is featured on a few, that I like. But I’m tired of hearing him, take from the past and make it super glossy and… I told myself I would stop describing his music this way. It seems to hurt my mom. She’s a fan. 😂 But his music is like eating candy. It taste good, but there’s no substance. No long term, nutritional value.

[@mykoniichistorychannel]

He strains a lot, and it takes YEARS for that to catch up to you, but it'll get him sooner or later.

[@terencejulius8734]

@@spongebob03 he is a culture vulture little Richard and James brown did it better

[@ronaldpalmore570]

@@terencejulius8734 so who out here now can sing? Give me a list so i can grade your point. I ain't tone deaf and i think boy can sing. Don't have to like his music but don't deny his ability.

[@iseeyou645]

can you please explain Whitney's voice

[@renanrpm]

He already did it on a video that was deleted for the rebranding he’s doing on his channel. He will upload it again when this rework is done.

[@tanayanottanyabrooks8085]

They told them smoking was good for you. And they were told drugs or drinking enhances their performance

[@amiehampton7070]

Drugs is a lot worse than cigarettes. People will overdose and died from doing drugs.

[@iguessitsokyungrichbaby2813]

I remember an interview Adele mentioned smoking cigarettes and gurgling whiskey hoping to sound like Janice Joplin and Amy whinehouse.

[@OjonugwaMansu]

if they sounded that good smoking, imagine how great they would have sounded without smoking