Fame and fortune come with their fair share of emotional and mental burdens that can be made even heavier and harder to manage by traumatic life events and health conditions (pre-existing or unexpected), which was the case for these four pioneering musicians who were placed under a conservatorship at some point in their careers. Sometimes, the star was at the height of their fame when they entered the legal appointment.
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Other times, the artist suffered a health scare or traumatic incident later in life that led to a conservatorship. These arrangements involve an individual, the conservator, managing the financial and personal affairs of someone else, the conservatee. These four musicians all became conservatees at some point, sometimes more than once, to varying degrees of public recognition and memory.
Brian Wilson
The late Beach Boys founder and musical production pioneer Brian Wilson entered a conservatorship just one year before he died due to a “major neurocognitive disorder,” per NPR. The Wilson family placed the musician in the legal arrangement following the death of his wife, Melinda Wilson.
“Brian will be able to enjoy all of his family and friends and continue to work on current projects as well as participate in any activities he chooses,” the family’s statement on social media read. This was the second attempt by the Wilson family to place the “Good Vibrations” songwriter under a conservatorship, having previously tried in the early 1990s to try and separate Wilson from his controversial psychologist, Eugene Landy.
Britney Spears
Pop star Britney Spears is perhaps the celebrity most synonymous with the concept of conservatorship. Her father, Jamie Spears, and his attorney, Andrew M. Wallet, kick-started the process of placing the “Lucky” singer under a conservatorship in 2008 at a time when Britney and her mental health were prime tabloid fodder.
Britney Spears’ conservatorship was incredibly controversial throughout its decades-long duration, though the degree to which the public seemed interested in the matter varied over the years. A resurgence in interest in the pop star’s case came around the release of the New York Times’ documentary Framing Britney Spears in 2021, prompting a “Free Britney” movement that helped catalyze her release from her conservatorship in 2021.
Randy Meisner
Musicians who enter conservatorships typically do so involuntarily or, at the very least, in a state that would prevent them from wholly making the decision themselves. Eagles founder and bassist Randy Meisner is a notable exception. In 2016, he requested a judge place him under a temporary conservatorship following the accidental death of his wife.
In his petition to the court, the “Take It To the Limit” songwriter said he was “barely able to accept the sudden and tragic loss of his loving wife” and wanted his “trusted friends and advisers [to] assist him.” The Los Angeles Daily News reported that Meisner said, “I just want to get over this. I’m in a lot of pain.”
Joni Mitchell
Pioneering folk musician Joni Mitchell entered a conservatorship after suffering a brain aneurysm in 2015. Longtime friend Leslie Morris became Mitchell’s conservator following her lengthy hospitalization, which granted Morris the ability to oversee Mitchell’s health care, not finances.
Lawyer Rebecca Thyne visited Mitchell after the temporary conservatorship was in place to see if an extension was necessary. “She told me that she receives excellent care from caregivers around the clock,” Thyme told LA.com. “It was clear that she was happy to be home and that she has made remarkable progress. She has physical therapy each day and is expected to make a full recovery.”
And as history would show, Mitchell did indeed. The legendary folk and jazz musician performed for the first time following her aneurysm at the Newport Folk Festival in July 2022.
Photo by Ken McKay/Shutterstock
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