CNN
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Music fans around the world held their breath earlier this month when Carlos Santana collapsed from heat stroke during a show in suburban Detroit.
Santana, who postponed six concerts “out of an abundance of caution” while he recovers, is a legendary guitarist whose distinctive blend of rock chords and Latin rhythms has earned him 10 Grammy Awards.
He is also 74.
And of the rock icons on tour this year, he’s one of the youngest.
Bob Dylan is 81 years old and has been touring almost non-stop since last fall. Paul McCartney turned 80 last month shortly after wrapping up his “Got Back” tour dates in North America. Former Beach Boy Brian Wilson, 80, will be on tour through September. The Rolling Stones, led by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, both 78, are playing stadiums across Europe. The Who, with Pete Townshend, 77, and Roger Daltrey, 78, will be on tour until November.
Also on tour this summer are Eric Clapton, 77, Rod Stewart, 77, Elton John, 75, and Roger Waters, 78, co-founder of Pink Floyd, who continues to sell out stadiums with his majestic songs and mentality. bending scenery. The list goes on.
In arenas and stadiums around the world, we are witnesses to history. Never before has such a grizzled group of rock icons appeared on so many major stages at the same time.
This moment is something to celebrate. But it’s also a bit bittersweet, because it marks the twilight of an early generation of rock ‘n’ roll: the rockers who came on the heels of seminal artists like Chuck Berry, Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis.
We can still get emotional listening to these artists live: the visceral punch of the opening guitar chords of “Start Me Up,” the melodious piano intro of “Tiny Dancer,” the sparkling sonic brilliance of “Good Vibrations.”
But let’s face it: From almost any point of view, these rock stars are ancient. And he forces us who grew up with his music to recognize that we are also getting old.
As critic Steven Hyden wrote in his 2019 book, “Twilight of the Gods: A Journey to the End of Classic Rock”, “You can’t talk about classic rock now without also thinking about death”.
In 2019, Damon Linker wrote a widely shared essay for The Week, provocatively titled, “The next death of almost all rock legends.”
In it, he predicted that most aging rock icons would likely die in the next decade or so.
“Behold the death camps that lie before us,” he wrote, before listing 28 rock stars in or on the verge of the 1970s: Dylan, McCartney, Wilson, Jagger, Richards, Daltrey, Townshend, Waters, Clapton, Stewart. , Elton John. , Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, Ray Davies, David Gilmour, Debbie Harry, Neil Young, Van Morrison, Bryan Ferry, Don Henley, James Taylor, Jackson Browne, Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen.
Three years later, all 28 are still alive. (So are Tina Turner, now 82, Ringo Starr, 81, Neil Diamond, 81, Sly Stone, 79, Bob Seger, 77, Stevie Nicks, 74, Ozzy Osbourne, 73, Bonnie Raitt, 71, and many others.)
Considering the toll of the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle on the health of musicians, and the fact that we have since been hit by a global pandemic that preys on the elderly and has killed more than 6 million of people, that seems incredible.
So is the fact that most of these artists are still on tour.
Should are you still on tour? That is another question entirely.
“People always ask me, ‘How do you feel about writing, ‘I hope I die before I get old?’” Townshend told the audience at an April show for The Who in Miami. “I feel very, very old.”
One of Neil Young songs from the 1970s reads: “It’s better to burn out than fade,” an oft-repeated lyric about the creative lives of rock musicians. The line, famously quoted by Kurt Cobain in his suicide note, suggests that rock stars are better off burning in a brief blaze of creative glory than slowly fading into obsolescence.
But John Lennon asked about Young’s song in an interview three days before he diedhe said he hated the lyrics.
“It’s better to fade like an old soldier than to burn out,” Lennon said. I adore people who survive.”
Linker isn’t so sure. In a follow up piece for The Week last year, he argued that the quality of rock stars’ musical output invariably declines as they get older, get richer and lose the creative fire that ignited their earlier songs.
And live, many of them also appear physically handicapped.
Linker says he and his wife recently attended the Genesis reunion tour and were dismayed to see Phil Collins, 71, so limited by health problems that he couldn’t play drums and sing sitting down.
“It was a good show – great lighting and sound, and Phil Collins’ son Nic did a fabulous job on drums. But Phil was clearly not up to the task,” Linker told CNN. “That left us a little down at the end of the night. It can’t help but be a constant reminder that we too have aged a lot.”
Linker feels the same way about other septuagenarian rock bands who continue to struggle despite the deaths of key members.
“I don’t want to sound bad, but The Who’s Roger Daltrey hasn’t been able to hit high notes in decades. What songs are really difficult to sing! And he is now 78 years old. Yet they keep coming out. There is something very sad, very needy, about that,” Linker said. “I feel the same way about the Rolling Stones: come on guys, they had a great career, maybe the greatest career in rock history! It’s time to give him a break.
But Scott Russell, Paste Magazine Music Editorwould not you agree.
For him, there’s something special about seeing someone take a song you’ve loved for decades and bring it to life before your eyes.
“These are living legends with catalogs to match, giants of music history still walking the earth despite decades in a grueling industry. You may be able to hear the years in Bob Dylan’s voice, but that was never what made his music special to begin with,” he told CNN.
“Touring is a huge strain on the body and mind, so any artist who is still touring late in life is doing so for more than just financial security,” Russell added, noting that the vast majority of musicians Professionals must strive to get ahead. make a living doing tourism.
“Any artist who makes it to the top of that mountain has earned the right to hang out there as long as they want.”
These rock ‘n’ roll icons are all survivors. But time, one could say, is no longer on his side.
And their specific music genre is also doomed.
“Classic rock” was coined by radio programmers to describe guitar-driven music from a different era, roughly the mid-’60s through the grunge era, Linker and Russell point out.
“By definition, that’s a thing of the past,” Linker said.
Sure, you still hear classic rock on mainstream radio, on your uncle’s Spotify playlists, and thrashed by cover bands in bars around the world. His best songs remain timeless.
But as a contemporary cultural force, its relevance is fading. In an increasingly diverse global music scene, it’s a genre dominated by older white guys.
“Is classic rock itself now a troublesome relic of a time when white male musicians garnered a disproportionate amount of attention?” Hyden wondered in his 2018 book “Does it deserve to disappear?”
Rock has long since ceased to be the dominant popular music genre in the US, overtaken by hip-hop, country, rap, and dance-oriented pop. Outside of some college and community stations, it’s hard to find new rock music on the radio.
As more rock legends die in the years to come, the last vestiges of an era will die with them.
Will a new generation of disciples take up the flag?
There are plenty of candidates: Dave Grohl, Eddie Vedder, Thom Yorke, Trent Reznor, and members of U2 and Metallica, just to name a few, but they’re all over 50. It’s hard to think of many young rock artists who can pack stadiums like McCartney and Elton John.
And that’s fine. There is no shortage of talented young musicians pushing the boundaries of rock to enthusiastic crowds in theaters and clubs. Good music will always find an audience.
“Rock may never regain its place at the top of the pop music pecking order, but neither will it ever go away. As one generation of rock musicians ages, there is always another rising,” said Russell of Paste, citing emerging artists such as Bartees Strange, Turnstile and Wet Leg. “What is old can always be made new again.”
Rock ‘n’ roll “is a great formula for young people looking for a creative outlet, so I don’t think it’s going away,” agreed Linker. “I mean, all the cool old stuff is still there on our Spotify and Apple Music accounts to listen to and inspire new generations of disaffected youth, which is where rock music comes from.”
In the meantime, let’s appreciate these rock music legends on tour while they’re still around.
Yeah, maybe Pete Townshend’s trademark windmills are getting a little creaky. maybe brian wilson outsources its high notes to younger singers. And many of the concerts of these artists are too expensive.
But they are still out there night after night, doing what they love. They have given us so much. We are lucky to have had them for so long.