Posted on 09/04/2019 8:20:41 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
The era of mass media may have ended decades ago, but the hangover is about to hit us all hard. In “The coming death of just about every rock legend,” Damon Linker of The Week explores the rock & roll carnage to come:
Yes, we've lost some already. On top of the icons who died horribly young decades ago — Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Elvis Presley, John Lennon — there's the litany of legends felled by illness, drugs, and just plain old age in more recent years: George Harrison, Ray Charles, Michael Jackson, Lou Reed, David Bowie, Glenn Frey, Prince, Leonard Cohen, Tom Petty.
Those losses have been painful. But it's nothing compared with the tidal wave of obituaries to come. The grief and nostalgia will wash over us all. Yes, the Boomers left alive will take it hardest — these were their heroes and generational compatriots. But rock remained the biggest game in town through the 1990s, which implicates GenXers like myself, no less than plenty of millennials.
All of which means there's going to be an awful lot of mourning going on.
Behold the killing fields that lie before us: Bob Dylan (78 years old); Paul McCartney (77); Paul Simon (77) and Art Garfunkel (77); Carole King (77); Brian Wilson (77); Mick Jagger (76) and Keith Richards (75); Joni Mitchell (75); Jimmy Page (75) and Robert Plant (71); Ray Davies (75); Roger Daltrey (75) and Pete Townshend (74); Roger Waters (75) and David Gilmour (73); Rod Stewart (74); Eric Clapton (74); Debbie Harry (74); Neil Young (73); Van Morrison (73); Bryan Ferry (73); Elton John (72); Don Henley (72); James Taylor (71);
(Excerpt) Read more at pjmedia.com ...
Geddy is fantastic. I’m always amazed that THREE people produce the sound that Rush puts out. I generally lean towards Entwistle probably because I prefer the songs more.
I do think that when you look at Rush, you are looking at each member having a claim to being one of the greatest at their instruments.
And there isn’t a single mention of either Allman brother (Duane or Gregg) among the rock icons who have passed away over the years.
They’ll get to it right after they mention Ronnie van Zant.
La Villa Strangiato just blows me away.
And the cool thing is, Alex never felt like he had to do anything else like it since, he made his case with that one song.
Their drummer is thought of by his peers to be a standout
From the post Bonham and Moon generation
Lemmy Kilmister may have been one of the few whose health actually improved thru smoking, drinking and drug use.
That is the great, thing about the business model today.
When I was trying to ‘make it’ (1975-1995), you ‘got signed’ (which meant signing away a heck of a lot of your rights, too!) and did what the studios said. Even if you sold a million records, you only made a penny or two from each.
Now an artist can record a CD at home, with Logic or Pro Tools, have them duplicated and do the artwork myself (actually my percussionist is a professional illustrator, for example), and get $5-$7.50 from each $12 CD; you don’t need to sell all that many to break even or even make a bit. And uploading to a streaming service costs even less. It’s a new model, but it also means I can find stuff I really like and buy it, with most of the money actually going to the artist, and entirely circumventing some A&R droid who thinks they know what is ‘good’ or isn’t.
It’s probably harder to be a teen pop idol, or someone who needs everything done for them, it’s great for old farts like me who don’t want to have to kiss anyone’s ass and want to play and listen to what *I* like without worrying about what anyone else thinks.
Canadian folk/country legend Ian Tyson turns 86 later this month. I never remember him being young. LOL. Someday he may turn into a title from one of his own songs: "Irving Berlin Is 100 Years Old Today."
I still say Garth Brooks ultimately killed Country Music.
He used to joke about seeing a doctor about following Keith Richards’ example of getting his blood completely transfused to get the toxins out of his system, with the doctor reputedly replying “Pure blood will probably kill you” after hearing the list of his daily habits.
There’s something to be said for that. He wasn’t the first, but he definitely personified the “pop-country” hybrid sound of his era.
Speaking of Canadians, no mention of Gord?
He turned 80 last year.
Also interesting is the Peart is one of the few who was both a master of his instrument and a lyricist of great importance to a lot of people (yeah, there are haters, to hell with ‘em).
They went out with class with the R40 tour, too; that’s how to do it IMHO.
Chris Squier’s ‘Fish Out Of Water’ was the most important album of my life, I learned every not off that album, still love it.
Who was “M”?
Brit Floyd is definitely at the top of the tributes. We have a more local tribute called “Wish You Were Here” that I’ve seen a few times.
Didn't he do "Pop Musik"?
The entertainment industry, instead of discovering and nurturing creativity, has been stifling it. Simultaneously, it has been dictating its anti-American political message to its customers, selling it as "entertainment".
So yes, Rock is dead and Hollywood is crashing. We have the talent and technology to create and distribute great entertainment. But dinosaur-entertainment hasn't embraced it. They just want us to pay for their propaganda.
Gays have taken over the entertainment industry. It started with David Geffen, back in the 70s.
The last I heard of him he was playing at a tiny venue in a small New Jersey town. It seemed like a long ways for a guy to fall from his prime several decades ago.
RE: Saw 69 year old Peter Frampton the other night
He puts on an amazing show. Very sad this is his last tour due to a neurological disease.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.