Posted on 08/31/2019 9:59:55 AM PDT by Rebelbase
[Snip] 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); Jackson Browne (70); Billy Joel (70); and Bruce Springsteen (69, but turning 70 next month).
A few of these legends might manage to live into their 90s, despite all the … wear and tear to which they've subjected their bodies over the decades. But most of them will not.
(Excerpt) Read more at theweek.com ...
What a depressing article. It’d be like reading your pre-obituary. Some of these folks are probably healthier than the writer of this article.
When Freddie Mercury died, that was the beginning of the end, anyway.
That is awesome.
+1
5.56mm
Not all of those listed are “legends”. Dylan...Joni Mitchell...and Keith Richard are. But Elton John? As Keith Richard once astutely observed,Elton John based an entire career on songs about dead blondes.
They were selling actual Vinyl Records of Contemporary Music Singers, Taylor Swift, Lana Del Rey etc.
The Record Players of old sure had a truly unique sound to them. I wonder how different a song like "Wildest Dreams" would have sounded on old Vinyl?
Yep. It has what my friend - a classically-trained musician who grew up listening mostly to Classical - and I call “stature.”
Rock is not just a macro-genre that covers many styles. (Country Rock is Rock, not Country.) It is also a technical term for a certain kind of beat and rhythm. In other words, the word is ambiguous.
Many Gospel choral pieces say “rock” on the score; it does not mean the genre, but the manner of playing. The music is not “rock music,” but it is done in a rock style.
If one goes to AcclaimedMusic.net, one will see a statistical analysis and aggregation from all major critical lists - worldwide - of popular albums and songs going back decades. (The statistician who wrote the program is Swedish.)
For years, the consistent results from the algorithm have proclaimed the consensus for best popular album of all time to be:
“Pet Sounds” - by The Beach Boys.
Today, many would regard this as adult contemporary or some other sub-style of rock/pop, but it has always been classified as rock music. It is now sometimes called the precursor to the sub-genre/sub-style of Baroque Rock/Pop or Avant Rock/Pop.
(Both Paul McCartney and George Martin have said it was the inspiration for Sgt. Pepper’s; they certainly regarded it as rock music.)
You can now add Auto-Tune and other real-time computer programs. One does not even need to have a legitimate native voice to be a singing sensation.
Rock had a brief creative era that was due largely to the electric guitar and related fast advances in sound technology. This allowed the guitar to become a principal musical voice, but this has run its course. Rock has been in creative decline since the 70's.
Peter Noone (Herman’s Hermits) is friends with and lives next door to Dennis Miller.
We just saw him & it’s amazing he’s 79.
Willie won’t stop breathing...he will just hold it in a long, long time.
Mike Smith died as the end result of falling off a ladder, making it even more sad.
Until pat benatar is inducted, it will remain a joke.
You are nowhere near alone.....Mick Taylor is universally recognized as bringing out the best in Keith Richards and many, many, me included, feel he was better to much better than “Keefe.” The Taylor years correspond precisely with the golden years of the Stones. I’ve never heard of anyone but Carlie Watts given credit for playing drums on Sympathy. Taylor wasn’t with the band when this was recorded, but the best versions were live and featured leads by Richards followed by Taylor’s lead. Two geniuses leading back to back. Shelter live best versions are generally credited to Taylor’s leads.Look around YouTube, they’re easy to find.
OTOH, there are a pretty fair number of my high school classmates listed on the "In Memoriam" section of our alumni group. And many of those have been gone a while. So my attitude is, fate has given me a lot more time than they got. I am grateful and doing my best to deserve and enjoy it.
I'm spending as much time as I can on this......
That's right.
And it's Buffett with two Ts ;-)
Here's a rare live performance, (real, not lip synced)
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