Death of ZZ Top's Dusty Hill: TMS Involvement?

I don't know the precise sequence of all of ZZ Top's Dusty Hill's medical conditions leading up to his death a few days ago, but I was aware of the broken shoulder, broken hip and ulcers mentioned below by Billy Gibbons:

https://www.nme.com/news/music/zz-tops-billy-gibbons-recalls-dusty-hills-health-struggles-prior-to-his-death-3007741 (ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons recalls Dusty Hill's health struggles prior to his death)

Maybe someone has the precise details? I do know that at the time of his death Dusty was exploring different strategies for battling the bursitis that was supposedly a byproduct of his hip and shoulder fractures. He had also just checked himself off the latest ZZ Top tour to seek further treatment.

 

"And by throwing in the towel, it might’ve caught up with him."
Like Satchel Paige's "don't look back...something might be gaining on you"

“Let’s face it, you don’t necessarily pass away from a broken shoulder or broken hip,”
Uh...you mean the drugs Billy?

"But, as of this juncture, yeah, it was off to dreamland and beyond.”

So it sounds like Gibbons is blaming painkillers. I think he might be discussing his own mortality unconsciously. I think we all do that from time to time. I know that right before I read Sarno I was ready to throw in the towel at age 32...I can't imagine that sort of despondency in a 72 year old being easier.

Thank God for Sarno, huh?

 

Went to the afterburner concert in like '85? Best Live show I have ever seen from an arena rock band, bar none.

RIP Dusty

 

That's what I was wondering about? Had Dusty gotten hooked on an endless cycle of opioids prescribed for the ongoing pain he was experiencing from the hip and shoulder fractures? Seems like that's how Tom Petty died of an opioid overdose prescribed to alleviate back and leg pain. Prince seems another likely TMS candidate too. You just have no way of comprehending the amount of stress you must place on yourself to keep performing in a headliner multi-platinum band if you're suffering from bursitis (TMS?) from a painful broken hip. At the time of his demise, Dusty's net worth was close to $60 million dollars. That must be a wicked stressor right there for a senior citizen.

According to Dusty's wife, they had just been discussing new treatment options for his hip injury when he slipt off to sleep and never woke up.

A musician friend of mine ran into Billy Gibbons at the local liquor store on Lower Broadway in Nashville where they were both buying jumbo bottles of Jack Daniels. That might tell you something? I know a drummer in San Francisco who attended a ZZ Top concert a couple of years ago. I asked him if the trio was still into drugs at their age? The drummer said, yes, most assuredly. Don't know how he would know, but that's what he said.

 

Here's Dusty's wife full statement on his passing: https://fullinbloom.com/zz-top-bassist-dusty-hills-widow-charleen-mccrory-releases-statement-2021/ (ZZ Top Bassist Dusty Hill’s Widow Charleen McCrory Releases Statement – 2021)

 

One of my Bro's died two weeks ago. He Od'd. My friend made it to 60 as a junky...that is AWESOME math and although it's still sad that he died, anybody abusing drugs at our age must have really good Genes. IF dusty was 72, that is no 'bad deal' for anybody , let alone a dope fiend. I'll take 72 sober.

The way his wife describes the death there in that article makes me think 'fentanyl'.... it's the only opiate that 'rushes' you like that (unless he banged dope in the bathroom and didn't tell her lol). Prince ate some fake street lortabs that had fentanyl in them.... Tom Petty was on fentanyl.

"Fentanyl is giving Heroin a really bad name"
-BB65 sometime around 2014.

 

Seems like all opioids lead to a chronic pain cycle that can only be managed by more opioids. Don't think it's a good idea to open that door. So that's where Roxy Music got its name? I'm such an innocent. Oh, my urban dictionary tells me: "Roxys or Roxicodone is instant release oxycodone."

 

I think the chronology goes the other way... the drug named after the band.

I have worked for a number of Rock stars and Celebrities...always painting or remodeling their homes. I have gotten to see what their life is like in detail, because unlike one of their peers, No one puts on any pretenses when the dumb painter is in the house. I could write a book about it. "Confessions of a celebrity Peon"

They tend to surround themselves with a lot of hangers' on. "Yes" men. Every idea or thought they have is enthusiastically supported.Any gripes they have are justified and bought or pushed out of their world. It reminds me of that Twilight Zone episode with the scary kid running the world.... "I'll wish you into the cornfield!" except...it's scarier, because it's real!!

" -My whole world does not reflect anything real back to me. I have these feelings that buying a new sports car, another castle or having 17 mistress's can't seem to blot out.... Now what? Oh... there is this magic thing I can eat, snort, shoot and it makes everything make sense again....and Nobody in my environment dares to tell me it's not a good idea, lest I wish them into the cornfield. I have unlimited funds and resources. My friends even go out of their way to go and get these things for me, so I don't ever have to risk legal problems. Even my doctors are my fans and a wink and a nod and I'm back on the good plan. "

Remember Sarno said that very few Pro Athletes were ever treated by him? Rock Stars and pro athletes are virtually interchangeable in our media driven culture. Once you're up on the mountain, it's hard to walk down. If your lucky, the mountain crumbles, you land on your feet (sort of) and learn a lesson. This is one of those glaringly obvious truths, except when it is in our own life. Blessed are the poor in spirit, the meek, those who mourn and the rest of the great unwashed. At least we get a second chance.

 

Very interesting comment, Baseball65.

I was exposed to this world. Involved in the world of architects, fashion industry/designers. You described these celebrities perfectly. I'm happy I chose to change my career aspirations and was content with a "dumber" status in life. At least I got a second change to happiness. Blessed are the poor in spirit...indeed.

 

I would think a lot of rock stars and pro athletes come down with LPB and sciatica because of the tremendous self-imposed stress implicit in their situations. You must mean they medicate their way out of their physical ailments without going the psychological route Sarno advocates?

I used to know the gardener for Fleetwood Mac. Up at their house in Laurel Canyon I seem to remember. He had some horror stories to tell about their excessive cocaine use. But nothing very derogatory about their personalities.

 

Sort of... What I mean is they get NO pushback from the world at all, and the little bit they do, they medicate and buy away. When everyone always agrees with you , why would you ever need to inspect your own conduct or beliefs? Confirmation Bias on steroids!

I have actually been in the next room listening to family fights, meltdowns, etc.... Toddler type of reactions to regular challenges of life. This is not stuff I would have ever heard if I wasn't in their home.. Now... imagine your conditioned like that and real life stuff like mortality, bad relationships, personal failures or less than awesome results turn up.... Gonna go the tough route of self evaluation, or pay someone else to give you a new hip?

I avoided Sarno until I couldn't. I avoided getting sober til I couldn't. I don't think most of us are very different. Who knows? maybe if I had more money or better insurance I would still be in pain?

Blessed are the poor

 

But what interests me are the etiology, chronology and treatment Dusty Hill received for his broken shoulder and broken hip. I did read that he fell on his band bus a year ago and injured his hip. No idea about the shoulder fracture? I'd wonder about what painkillers he was prescribed and whether he was self-medicating too. None of the obituaries say a thing about whether he received hip replacement surgery? At what point did TMS begin to play a role in perpetuating his pain symptoms? I suppose such information is very much underwraps. I doubt if there'll ever be enough data to reach some solid answers.

I see that Hill fell backstage before a show in Lubbock TX in April 2016 and dislocated his shoulder:

https://ultimateclassicrock.com/dusty-hill-dislocate-shoulder/ (ZZ Top’s Dusty Hill Dislocates Shoulder, Show Postponed)

Found a bit more about the hip injury:

https://www.tmz.com/2021/08/01/zz-top-dusty-hill-last-performance-tough-time-struggle-hip-injury-death/ (ZZ Top Bassist Dusty Hill Had Tough Time Performing Weeks Before Death)

Also found this report that Billy Gibbons said Hill was playing through pain for years:

https://kbgo.iheart.com/content/2021-08-02-dusty-hill-played-through-pain-for-years-with-zz-top-billy-gibbons-says/ (Dusty Hill Played Through Pain For Years With ZZ Top, Billy Gibbons Says | Big 95)

Wish I could find out more about the exact nature of the hip injury and its course of treatment. You'll remember from reading Dr Sarno's Healing Back Pain just how much ulcers have a strong psychogenic origin. Also, I wonder about that Hep C Gibbons was hospitalized for years ago. Needles?

 

I see that USA Today reported that "Hill had battled hip problems since he fell on the band’s tour bus in 2014. He had surgery to repair it, which required several months of physical therapy, USA Today said." So he must have had hip replacement surgery, a generally useless procedure I've heard.

This is extremely speculative I realize but if you build a scenario based on TMS theory, you could get a hypothetical sequence like this. In 2014, Hill fell on his tour bus, injured his hip, and had hip replacement surgery which led to a long period of PT. But the pain continued. Later last year he fell and injured his shoulder. I think this sounds like an example of symptom imperative where the pain in Hill's hip, which never really went away, moved to his shoulder after a fall. I'd suggest that the whole episode since 2014 was really different versions of TMS intensified by the pressure of having to travel and perform in a world-famous band. Hill was probably self-medicating too with strong opioids, which was the real reason for his death. Of course, I'm not a MD or PT or psychologist, but the whole episode suggests TMS involvement. What do I know though?

 

Think you'd have to have some information from a witness inside the ZZ Top entourage. Otherwise, there'd be too much covering up for you to draw any solid conclusion about the sequence of events and accidents leading up to Hill's demise. Still, my strong suspicion TMS played a critical role in that sequence. That first "accident" followed by the unsuccessful hip surgery followed by a long bout of PT followed by a shoulder "injury" just sounds too much like the way TMS works. Everyone trying to treat it by structural means and pain killers without looking into such concepts as the symptom imperative moving the pain from one area to another.