This post has too many comments to show them all at once! Newcomers, please proceed in an orderly fashion to the newest welcome thread.
Welcome to Less Wrong!
I observed that most of the musicians I encountered in their 50s, 60s and 70s didn't appear to be loving the life anymore, so I decided I would leave music entirely
That's kind of impressive, an application of the "outside view" in just the way recommended by Daniel Gilbert's "Stumbling on Happiness".
I know someone who compared lifespans of poets vs. prose writers, and went into prose as a result.