This was really interesting, but I'm going to hazard a guess that you're not a musician. One commenter wrote that "getting girls/guys" is a motivator. This is, of course, true, as it is in most fields. One thing no one has mentioned is the love of making music, and the maturity of knowing that stardom is a byproduct; also, I didn't see mention that the love of doing it is sustaining, regardless of outcome. Having a body of work staves off a lot of "what if."
Finally, I think someone mentioned Bach, Brahms, and composers whose work has long outlived them. Some people "get famous" long after they're dead. Lou Reed and Rogers & Hammerstein and Elvis and so many have scored massive hits from beyond the grave.
I will certainly be sending this piece to my students, but what is most interesting about it is the utility of "stardom" as a data point. It's elusive in life, and in death, and in its own definition. I would fall on the floor if I met Tom Waits; my students wouldn't know who that is. I've never known how to reconcile that set of responses, except to try to help my students defend themselves from a concept that is both arbitrary and, as you mentioned with the 27 Club, potentially deadly.
Finally, and I'm sorry for going on, but walk through the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame some time. It is a museum of inadvertently cautionary tales, from John Lennon's bloody glasses to bits of the fuselage on Otis Redding's plane. And all of it gathering dust, as if the story is still being written. Spooky place.
you completely missed the whole reason almost all young men want rock stardom...to get the girls dumdum. ask almost any rock musician under the age of 25 and if they don't tell you they are doing it for the girls (or guys of course), they must be ashamed of their true motivation.
we all know we probably aren't gonna be stars but i'll tell you what...ive been a semi-pro musician for 40 years now and I STILL get a huge thrill climbing on stage and doing my trained ape guitar thing. it's incredibly satisfying to be able to produce music out of thin air....like the ultimate magic trick or something.
and to know ill be able to get the phone number to almost any women in the club that night...well that's the real secret to the sauce so to speak.
Really enjoyed this write up, thanks for taking the time to run the analysis! However, I think there might be some limitations by looking at only the billboard top charts to define longevity of fame, stardom, and success.
I can think of multiple artists that either may or may not have ever been in the top charts and yet years or even decades later still produce music that fans listen to and still tour to sold out arenas and stadiums. It would be interesting to find a metric that can capture these artists as well.
In fairness, before the music bios of the early aughts, the hackneyed formula outlined in the intro here was perfected and played to death by Behind the Music.
My ex wife worked with Tommy heath in the 90s, he came to our wedding! I remember nothing about the guy or what we talked about except that he was a regular office guy who had pretty much already had every conversation you could have about a song about a phone number
Love this article as I do all of them! However a small nitpick as a guy who works with data all day every day, the distance between life span for musician is actually closer to the professions below it than above it which the article says it is more comparable to. I think I understand what you were going for, but my data brain couldn't help but see that! Love your work!
Great piece - half caf coffee saved my anxiety spikes. Just get good decaf and good full caf and suddenly you have a little morning lift without the existential dread.
Makes me think of a South Park episode in which Randy Marsh reminisced on being part of Ghetto Avenue Boys band and getting dismissed after a year by the producer because of being too old. And all the fame, money and girls saying “bye”
This is fascinating! Every young person who dreams of making it as a singer or musician should read this.
I would think that most every similar front man style entertainment career would follow a similar curve.
Mine started with a rock band getting a lable deal, tailing off into folk duo and solo side gigs.
I still write and publish but the only way to make any money at all is live gigs.
This was really interesting, but I'm going to hazard a guess that you're not a musician. One commenter wrote that "getting girls/guys" is a motivator. This is, of course, true, as it is in most fields. One thing no one has mentioned is the love of making music, and the maturity of knowing that stardom is a byproduct; also, I didn't see mention that the love of doing it is sustaining, regardless of outcome. Having a body of work staves off a lot of "what if."
Finally, I think someone mentioned Bach, Brahms, and composers whose work has long outlived them. Some people "get famous" long after they're dead. Lou Reed and Rogers & Hammerstein and Elvis and so many have scored massive hits from beyond the grave.
I will certainly be sending this piece to my students, but what is most interesting about it is the utility of "stardom" as a data point. It's elusive in life, and in death, and in its own definition. I would fall on the floor if I met Tom Waits; my students wouldn't know who that is. I've never known how to reconcile that set of responses, except to try to help my students defend themselves from a concept that is both arbitrary and, as you mentioned with the 27 Club, potentially deadly.
Finally, and I'm sorry for going on, but walk through the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame some time. It is a museum of inadvertently cautionary tales, from John Lennon's bloody glasses to bits of the fuselage on Otis Redding's plane. And all of it gathering dust, as if the story is still being written. Spooky place.
Thank you for this thought provoking piece. M
you completely missed the whole reason almost all young men want rock stardom...to get the girls dumdum. ask almost any rock musician under the age of 25 and if they don't tell you they are doing it for the girls (or guys of course), they must be ashamed of their true motivation.
we all know we probably aren't gonna be stars but i'll tell you what...ive been a semi-pro musician for 40 years now and I STILL get a huge thrill climbing on stage and doing my trained ape guitar thing. it's incredibly satisfying to be able to produce music out of thin air....like the ultimate magic trick or something.
and to know ill be able to get the phone number to almost any women in the club that night...well that's the real secret to the sauce so to speak.
Really enjoyed this write up, thanks for taking the time to run the analysis! However, I think there might be some limitations by looking at only the billboard top charts to define longevity of fame, stardom, and success.
I can think of multiple artists that either may or may not have ever been in the top charts and yet years or even decades later still produce music that fans listen to and still tour to sold out arenas and stadiums. It would be interesting to find a metric that can capture these artists as well.
In fairness, before the music bios of the early aughts, the hackneyed formula outlined in the intro here was perfected and played to death by Behind the Music.
My ex wife worked with Tommy heath in the 90s, he came to our wedding! I remember nothing about the guy or what we talked about except that he was a regular office guy who had pretty much already had every conversation you could have about a song about a phone number
Love this article as I do all of them! However a small nitpick as a guy who works with data all day every day, the distance between life span for musician is actually closer to the professions below it than above it which the article says it is more comparable to. I think I understand what you were going for, but my data brain couldn't help but see that! Love your work!
Great piece - half caf coffee saved my anxiety spikes. Just get good decaf and good full caf and suddenly you have a little morning lift without the existential dread.
Makes me think of a South Park episode in which Randy Marsh reminisced on being part of Ghetto Avenue Boys band and getting dismissed after a year by the producer because of being too old. And all the fame, money and girls saying “bye”
https://youtu.be/it8RZuozCm0?si=8GtsUoleWlwNrITt
I suspect professional athletes follow a similar trajectory.
Unless you are Novak Djokovic and your hegemony lasts 2 decades
WOW! Gourmet.