wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

The story of Chris Brown's alleged assault of a woman -- a woman that many believe to be his girlfriend, the the even more popular singer Rihanna -- may be news, but it's not new. Sadly, musicians are as prone to domestic abuse as anyone else. James Brown's treatment of the women in his life could be charitably called shabby; Tina Turner took years to do it, but eventually stood up and courageously told the world how Ike Turner used to mistreat her. The victims tend to be women, as they are in society in general, although a famous American guitarist once confided to me that HE was the abused one in his marriage.

Like many of you, I found the leaked photos of a battered Rihanna troubling on several levels - one of course was the evidence of abuse, but the other was the terrible invasion of privacy, at a time when even a global celebrity like Rihanna needed and deserved it. Even worse is my suspicion that when Chris Brown releases his next record, the same people who tsk-tsked over the Rihanna photos will rush to hear what he has to say - and he'll have a massive hit on his hands. Sadly, our good intentions (he was abusive, let's all shun him) are overwhelmed by the insatiable appetite our culture now has for all the soap opera-style details of the lives of the stars (wow, I wonder if he'll sing about being sorry).

Of course, there are real people living these soap opera lives, and maybe the rush of sympathy for Rihanna will turn into something useful - a renewed effort at reducing domestic violence, perhaps; or at least a more sympathetic ear for the many battered women who are not rich and famous. But past incidents suggest it'll just be a juicy media story that will somehow contrive to sell more records.

Tell us: Can you think of another example of abusive behavior in the music world? What did that do to your opinion of the artist in question?
Leave a comment.