Stars today don’t know how to deal with life in the fast lane, says Don Henley. “A lot of these people aren’t getting the guidance that they should be getting because managers don’t want to rock the boat. They don’t want to say something to the golden goose that may make the golden goose fire them. They’re reluctant to tell these kids the truth, which is, ‘You need to go to f—ing rehab now.’” Evidently out-of-control drug habits weren’t a problem in the seventies.

“I always say, ‘This is the world that Rupert Murdoch made and we all have to live in it,’” he said. “I feel badly for people like Amy Winehouse and even Britney Spears because it’s really hard for a kid to cope with sudden fame and a lot of money. [The Eagles] certainly had difficulties, but we were all grounded enough — had good parents and middle class, working class roots — that we were able to get through it somehow. I know what a lot of these kids are going through and I feel for them.”

While Henley empathizes with Spears and Winehouse, he also casts blame, particularly on the very industry that breeds their success. “There aren’t a lot of good managers out there anymore,” he said. “A lot of these people aren’t getting the guidance that they should be getting because managers don’t want to rock the boat. They don’t want to say something to the golden goose that may make the golden goose fire them. They’re reluctant to tell these kids the truth, which is, ‘You need to go to f—ing rehab now.’ It’s the responsibility, not only of parents, but of friends, relatives, managers and record companies to keep their artists from going off the rails, even if it means losing them. And that just doesn’t happen very much.”

Not like in David Crosby’s day, right? Hard to believe it’s been twenty years since the innocence ended.

Don Henley Casts Blame for Winehouse’s, Spears’ Troubles [Spinner]