Lottery Winners Who Spent Their Money On Their Love For Music

Lottery Winners Who Spent Their Money On Their Love For Music

July 5, 2019 Off By Editor

Photo credit: PicJumbo

 

It is human nature to dream of things we do not have. Most of us dream of things that are attainable if we have enough money.

We all have our dreams. It costs nothing to entertain these dreams. Here are a few dreams that many people have in common:

  • Win the lottery
  • Lose weight before summer
  • Get married
  • Travel the world
  • Start a rock band
  • Go back to university
  • Sale the sea with your best friends
  • Surf the waves in Hawaii

Of course, if you win the first one on this list, the rest is pretty much guaranteed with a bit of effort. But, will that make you happy? Maybe you would be happy for a while. But, if you look again, you might realize that some of these dreams are from decades ago. Still, if you can dream it, you can achieve it. That was the way Lara and Roger Griffith thought about it. Lara dreamed of having a beautiful home. But Roger? Roger always felt his high school band should have never broken up. He knew they were good. If they had stayed together, they would have been super-stars. If he just had the money, he would get the guys all together and hire the right people to get their band on the charts where they belonged.

Holy Cow! They hit the lotto!

Lara and Roger Griffith hit the lottery in 2016. They won a 2.7 million pound lottery and their life changed forever.

Lara bought her dream home. She spent endless days decorating and furnishing her home. She also helped her mother with some much needed home attention. She soon discovered that when you win a large sum of money, people come out of the woodwork needing money. Some of the community efforts touched her heart and she helped.

Roger’s dream!

Roger had been in a rock band in college and he often wished they had stayed together. Roger was sure they would have gone on to be super-stars. Some poor decisions and not enough money separated them, but he had everything they needed this time. He made the decision, to reunite the band. While this may sound unusual, it is not as strange as you may think. In fact, there are several Lotto winners who spent their winnings on music. 

Roger contacted the former band members and they were all in agreement. The breath of life would be pumped into the band and it would live again. He brought them to London and put them up in ritzy hotels. He hired the top professionals to record and produce the band. He paid a publicist 1500 pounds to promote the band. The venture cost him his last 33,000 pounds. Sadly, their first record only sold 600 copies. The band had not brought not in enough revenue to cover expenses.

Photo credit: Pixaba

Of course, there was a lot more spending than this going on that trying to restore an old band and buying even a very expensive house. There was a lot of “sharing the wealth going on.”  There is one thing experts agree on. If you have never handled a fortune, do not try to do it alone. Many lotto winners end up alone, in debt, and broke. Do not assume you will not be a millionaire victim. This is what happens when you let your dreams lead you.

Meet Adrian and Gillian Bayford

Adrian and Gillian were good people. Adrian was a die-hard music fan. Their lotto win of 148,656,000 pounds allowed them to live out their dreams. However, the endings were not what they expected. Adrian had once run a small music shop in Haverhill. He felt this qualified him to go bigger. He very well could have done just fine with his large store and the excitement it brought if the pressures that followed the lottery had not invaded his life. He used some of his winnings to open a music and movie memorabilia shop in Cambridge. Adrian’s passion for everything music was sparking to life. His prized possession was an autographed record of the Beatles, signed by John Lennon just 2-weeks before he was killed.

If anyone doubts Adrian’s love for music, he has gone above and beyond to show it. When Adrian first won his money he stated that his goal was to get the original members of Guns and Roses back together. He has not succeeded yet. He has a signed, Guns and Roses guitar in his personal collection that is not for sale. It is valued at 3,000 pounds.

Adrian became the Executive Producer of a British rock band called Last Great Dreamer. In 2017, the Cambridge Rock Festival nearly canceled the event and Bayford saved the day. He stepped in and offered his “more than enough room” backyard.

Photo credit: Toomaj F. Bungs

At the end of the day

Both of the couples in this article have gone their separate ways. We have found that is a common occurrence for lottery winners. Usually, winners who have the ability to remain incognito or that seek the help of a financial advisor have the best chance of staying together.

Perhaps it is the stress of people, relatives, friends, strangers, and the community leaders asking for large sums of money day and night, drag them down. They beg, cry, push, threaten, guilt, and protest every day. It is unnerving.

Perhaps it is the twist to our moral compass. We have been taught that to get ahead, we work hard and we do well, and then we are successful.

Maybe it is the loss of identity. You are suddenly not the guy who is fun to play guitar with at the party, or the lady who always helps out at the school fair. You are not a walking piggy banks and everybody wants what you have.

Protect yourself. Seek professional help and leave that money in the bank until you are ready to make your move. The people you admire in the music industry can tell you from experience that you are always on guard. They will show you how to be sure your money is safe. Use your money for your love of music. Keep your investments close to the vest. Spend money on what you really want. Do not try to solve everyone’s problems. Finally, do not make the mistake of thinking that you are set for life. You could be, but if you spend like you have an endless supply, you will see very soon that you do not.