I recently read an article about Duff McKagan, the former bass player for the legendary rock band Guns N’ Roses. Like many musicians before him, Duff had a history of abusing drugs and alcohol. It got so bad that a doctor told him he would die in a month if he didn’t stop drinking. Fortunately, he got sober. And, after all that hard living, he actually had a lot of money left. He just had no idea what to do with it.
A former high school drop-out, Duff took finance courses at a couple of community colleges and, in the early 2000s, he attended Seattle University’s Albers School of Business and Economics. Eventually, he started a new career, in money management, and he had an entire market of people he could relate to and possibly work with: music people.
Over the years I have made my own contacts in the music industry and through friends and clients I have learned that a lot of talented people in music are in need of help and advice on the financial front.
This is exactly what Duff is doing today.
With a few investors, he has opened Meridian Rock, a wealth management firm for musicians. Their goal is to pass along financial education, as much as possible, so their clients can think for themselves. Also, they are actively educating clients about so-called businessmen and the entourages that fleece musicians of their fortunes. It is a great story and my hat goes off to Duff for what one writer calls his “appetite for instruction.”
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