Etc. Rock stars be tired [Guest Post].

We here at the BEAT realize that great writers must always appreciate other great writers. Today we feature a guest post by my boyfriend and new blogger, Adam Hobbs. You can check out more of Adam's posts about music, life, and owls at theowler.com.

By the time this post goes up, the news about Lady Gaga canceling a recent string of dates will be old news. She will most likely have taken a nap and hopped back on her luxury Prevost to finish out her exhausting U.S. tour and head over to the UK for more back-breaking work.

Even though the unemployment rate soared to 10% in December, most of us still have to go to work every day. And it's probably safe to say that if Lady Gaga were working anyplace else in the U.S., she would have maxed out on sick days and now would be dipping into her vacation balance to stay home and recover.

After doing a little research however, I'm finding out that being a touring musician is in fact, incredibly exhausting. News doesn't lie and here's a list of canceled dates that I was able to pull off the web after Googling "cancel exhaustion":

Jan 1, 2010 - the xx

Sep 1, 2005 - Queens of the Stone Age

June 9, 2004 - The Vines

August 17, 2005 - Transplants

April 2, 1977 - Elvis Presley

August 17, 2006 - Keane

Aug 18, 2005 - Eminem

Oct 25, 1975 - The Carpenters

Sep 18, 1996 - The Cranberries

Oct 16, 2009 - Sugababes

Nov 3, 1976 - Dolly Parton

Jun 26, 1991 - Black Crowes

Jun 5, 1995 - Travis Tritt

Jul 9, 2007 - Amy Winehouse

Sep 2, 2005 - The Rakes

...the list goes on and on.

So when the Byrds sang, "if you wanna be a rock'n'roll star," they should have added things like, 'drink coffee' and 'get eight hours of sleep a night' to that list of to-dos.

-- Adam Hobbs

Photo: Me & Gaga: You can't see her eyes, but she's sleeping right now. I hope.