This guy was going for a joke I suppose but he probably should have skipped this idea entirely!

article

[www.houstonchronicle.com]



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2016-01-14 17:18 by bv.

I can't read it, this message is shown on my screen:

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The rock-star die-off to come
The demographics spell doom

By Craig Hlavaty
January 13, 2016 Updated: January 13, 2016 9:03am

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The Rolling Stones.

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The Rolling Stones.

This month two deaths rocked us rock fans.

The first was Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead, a gravelly-voiced pirate of a man. I revered him as a leathered deity. For 70 years, he kept the volume cranked to 11.

The second was David Bowie. When his earthly body ceased to function, I assume he returned to his home planet. In a tweet, fan Dean Podestá nailed the size of the rocker's influence: "If you're ever sad, just remember the world is 4.543 billion years old and you somehow managed to exist at the same time as David Bowie." Bowie was 69.

Their deaths united us online in grief. My social media feeds were full of stories and toasts, and blessedly free of gun-control screeds and Trump memes. I'd much rather "like" your favorite picture of Lemmy or Bowie onstage than endure another rant about a puking baby.

It rattled me to realize that I'd better get used to this: We're about to watch the masters of rock die out. The demographics spell doom. They — we — keep aging.

One day, not long enough from now, we'll be blaring "Blowin' in the Wind" and lamenting we didn't travel often enough to see Bob Dylan live. Even his Christmas album will be appreciated.

Bowie and Lemmy, both killed by cancer, aren't even part of the oldest generation. Still with us are Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Chuck Berry — 1950s pathbreakers who later rock gods idolized as rock gods. Who would have imagined that they'd outlive the acts that they influenced?

The first rock death that haunted me was that of Kurt Cobain, Nirvana front man and grunge martyr. On MTV, Kurt Loder's dour face slammed home to my 10-year-old self that this death was serious, something that I needed to fully digest. Voice of a generation and all.

I don't remember Elvis Presley's or John Lennon's deaths, because I wasn't alive, so I can't speak to those. Michael Jackson's loss was a blow to millions — but to me, his passage felt anticlimactic. After all the controversy and legal trouble, I'd already mourned him.

But what about the next wave? When, say, Dave Grohl or Trent Reznor passes, will the whole world stop the way it did on Monday? Or will rocker-mourning fatigue set in?

Soon after Lemmy's and Bowie's deaths, I realized that Keith Richards had survived them both. Keith Richards, the 72-year-old Rolling Stones guitarist who already looks dead. Keith Richards, who writer Peter Hitchens once called "a capering streak of living gristle who ought to be exhibited as a warning to the young of what drugs can do to you even if you're lucky enough not to choke on your own vomit."

Suddenly, the old joke that we need to leave a better world for Keef started to seem not so funny: Maybe Richards will outlast us all.

All I know is that the next 10 years are going to be excruciatingly painful for fans of rock'n'roll. I dread checking the news some mornings out of fear that someone I love will have departed overnight.

Thanks for sharing, Turner!

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keefriff99
All I know is that the next 10 years are going to be excruciatingly painful for fans of rock'n'roll. I dread checking the news some mornings out of fear that someone I love will have departed overnight.

Same here.

That is a terrible piece of writing. Newspapers are going downhill.

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marianna
That is a terrible piece of writing. Newspapers are going downhill.

they truly are, and very fast.

Yeah, the next 10 to 20 years are going to be very heartbreaking for most of us. The End Times are definitely upon us.

Of course, trying to be optimistic, these two do seem ahead of the curve. Bowie is definitely top of the heap of people you could lose, so that one hurts as much as people like the Stones, McCartney, Ray Davies, Townshend, all the big ones that'll really sting.

What I hope, and obviously its not true cause it could happen to anyone, is we're still about 10 years away from this. The two we just lost indeed lived the lives of 80 men, but it was freak things that got them in the end. No doubt because of how they lived their lives in the past, but also just bad luck getting these terminal cancers. I still hold out hope that people like McCartney, Jagger easily make 80 before we start having this discussion. I have an 86 year old grandfather and he's not going anywhere. I hope thats the case with most of these rock stars.

Lou Reed, David Bowie... like you say, its definitely coming, and I just hope these are unfortunately early cases and it doesn't actually start becoming a daily occurrence until these guys are in their 80s. But as evidenced, anyone could get cancer tomorrow and start going south quick. I'm sure we all unfortunately have seen it happen to someone close.

very morbid

Aren't things bad enough without thinking along these lines?

Chuck Berry is turning 90 this year...OK, I'll for sure hope he makes 100 or 150...

2 1 2 0

There are websites (eg ranker /deathlist) who predict celebrity deaths to come.
Expect to see the likes of Kirk Douglas and Fidel Castro near the top of the pile.
I believe Keith was regularly featured but since he's become a good boy, he's no longer listed. Urban myth has it that he was quite upset at the time.
I suppose its partly about putting some humour into an otherwise sad subject.
Even TV has got into the act. UKs Channel 4 had such a programme, Top 100. Missed it, so no idea how accurate they were.

very bad taste. this thread and all these discussion. sorry.
and, frankly speaking, i am a lot more worried about me when i will be 70 or 80, if i will ever be 80 ..

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marianna
That is a terrible piece of writing. Newspapers are going downhill.

Going? Too late!

Morbid and out of line story. Too stupid to be commented on really.

Bjornulf

When you think of dying artists think also how many great artists are being born but we don't know them yet.

Chuck Berry turning 90!!! Will be a great celebration, for me at least. Minus accidents I believe he can live to 100. Fingers crossed. He doesn't have to do anything more except live a long happy life.

Who is this candy-assed thirty-something writing this?

Not alive when John Lennon died....well, then shut your yap. You have no clue what you're yammering about. Didn't even mention Fats Domino as one of the surviving founders of Rock 'n' Roll.

Ouch...well at least it gives me the opportunity to post a link to this "story" : [www.breakingburgh.com] ;-)

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IORR Links : Essential Studio Outtakes CDs : Audio - History of Rarest Outtakes : Audio

I was about to respond to his "article" on Twitter but decided to let it be. The stupids really need to be allowed to thrive.

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franzk
When you think of dying artists think also how many great artists are being born but we don't know them yet.

I agree with that! I see the Chronicle "story" only as a conversation starter about simply an obvious and inevitable truth...people do die. But the conversation is healthy too because often the artists who ought to be cherished and discussed don't remain in the public consciousness until the end. Witness how predictably any well loved musician's music sales spike as soon as he or she passes away.

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franzk
When you think of dying artists think also how many great artists are being born but we don't know them yet.

If this writer is any indication of the mentality and talent of those who are about to take over, those yet-unborn artists will never become known. People without talent will reign supreme, and critics who write in sentence fragments will be praising them.

Lets drink to the salt of the earth ....



ROCKMAN

so after a lifetime (decade after decade) of great fun, cutting edge artistic creativity and million upon millions of dollars, someday in the future the hourglass will hold no more sand.

wow, so i guess the mope at the newspaper wins!

This article might be morbid and poorly written but the author does have a point. There will be a time when the artists we love from the 1960s and 1970s won't be here anymore. And it'll be soon. It's weird to think about but that's life. We're not immortal. Look at the jazz greats from the classic era, the blues greats, they're all gone (with an exception of a small few). Is it really bad taste to remind us that they will pass away one day or the more we think about it and accept it will that help us cushion the sadness when it does happen?

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marianna

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franzk
When you think of dying artists think also how many great artists are being born but we don't know them yet.

If this writer is any indication of the mentality and talent of those who are about to take over, those yet-unborn artists will never become known. People without talent will reign supreme, and critics who write in sentence fragments will be praising them.

You represent a universal for all generations point of view which is called "juvenoia" ie. presumption that the next generation is worse than the previous one. It's been known since acient times.

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Boognish
This article might be morbid and poorly written but the author does have a point. There will be a time when the artists we love from the 1960s and 1970s won't be here anymore. And it'll be soon. It's weird to think about but that's life. We're not immortal. Look at the jazz greats from the classic era, the blues greats, they're all gone (with an exception of a small few). Is it really bad taste to remind us that they will pass away one day or the more we think about it and accept it will that help us cushion the sadness when it does happen?

it's true...folks need to be reminded to appreciate the greats while they walk the earth. Personally, I would love to go see Chuck Berry for one of his Wednesday shows before he calls it quits!!

Morbid yes, but we are ALL thinking it. We can't deny that.

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franzk

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marianna

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franzk
When you think of dying artists think also how many great artists are being born but we don't know them yet.

If this writer is any indication of the mentality and talent of those who are about to take over, those yet-unborn artists will never become known. People without talent will reign supreme, and critics who write in sentence fragments will be praising them.

You represent a universal for all generations point of view which is called "juvenoia" ie. presumption that the next generation is worse than the previous one. It's been known since acient times.

not really. His point was not based on any presumption, it was based on his view on what is happening with the profession of journalism. It was based on analysis, not presumption, notwithstanding your facile resort to trendy pseudo-intellectual analysis.

In other words, things might actually be getting worse, despite your (false) contention that people always think (incorrectly) they are getting worse.