Eddie Murphy recently sat down with The New York Times for an episode of its podcast The Interview . During the conversation, host David Marchese pointed out that, early in his career, Murphy was at the same level of white-hot fame as Elvis Presley , Michael Jackson and Prince , all of whom died before their time and, in one way or another, from drug use. “Those guys are all cautionary tales for me,” Murphy told Marchese.
“I don’t drink. I smoked a joint for the first time when I was 30 years old — the extent of drugs is some weed. I remember I was 19, I went to the Blues Bar.
It was me, [John] Belushi and Robin Williams . They start doing coke, and I was like, ‘No, I’m cool.’ I wasn’t taking some moral stance.
I just wasn’t interested in it. To not have the desire or the curiosity, I’d say that’s providence. God was looking over me in that moment.
” All four of these performers achieved superstardom at a young age. Jackson was just 11 in 1970 when The Jackson 5 landed their first No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 , “I Want You Back.
” He was only 14 in 1973 when he sang his solo hit “Ben” at the Academy Awards, where it was nominated for best original song. Presley was 21 in 1956 when he landed his first roof-rattling (and Billboard chart-topping) smash, “Heartbreak Hotel.” Prince was 21 in 1980 when he received his first platinum album for Prince and his first gold single for “I Wanna Be Your Lover.
” In similar fashion, Murphy was ju.