Time rocks on
Time treats people (even rock stars) differentially.
Some look great: Billy Idol, Bret Michaels (who’s a mere 48, though, so it’s not a good test), and Bruce Springsteen. Pat Benatar looks better than in her youth, and David Bowie looks good without seeming to have had any cosmetic surgery, since his eyes are hooded in a way that’s normal as a person ages.
Meat Loaf looks better, too—but then he had almost nowhere to go but up. Other “goods” are Joan Jett, Van Halen, Tom Petty, Ted Nugent, Sting, Bon Jovi, and Annie Lennox.
The bad ones (and it’s not always due to weight gain, by any means) are Grace Slick, Mick Jagger in one of the worst photos ever of him (they really had to search for that one), Ozzy Osbourne, Iggy Pop (terrifying), the most dreadful photo of Dylan ever (he should sue), Ron Wood (scary), and Neil Young (my goodness).
No doubt some of this is the result of long-term and determined abuse of the body through good old sex, drugs, and rock and roll. The rest? Dunno. And probably some of the “goods” have done their share of partying, too.
Given all the legal and illegal psychoactive drugs they have ingested over the years, the miracle is not that they look good, but that they are still alive.
OTOH, there must be some abstainers among them
Bad link.
Gringo: Fixed!!
The post isn’t much without the photos, is it? Thanks.
I had a major crush on Stevie Nicks in college… I think I still do! 🙂
My comment is awaiting moderation? When did that start?
My brother always used to call Keith Richards “The World’s Oldest Living Dead Man.”
Anyway, pressing onwards…
The Bob Dylan photo isn’t bad. That’s pretty much how he looks nowadays. He turned 70 in May of this year. He’s got the Vincent Price thing going with that pencil mustache.
I don’t follow the other musicians much, but I’d like to know how many of them have averaged 100 live performances a year for the last 23 years or so. The 14th longest page on Wikipedia is simply a listing of Dylan’s tour dates since 1988. That dude is like the Energizer bunny.
And they’re good quality performances, too. His live band is the best he’s ever had. In addition, he’s released several albums since Time Out Of Mind in 1997 that rank among the best of his career.
His current concerts feature a selection of songs from all phases of his career. I’ve said numerous times that I wouldn’t mind seeing a show consisting entirely of post-2000 songs. They’re that good.
What I’m saying is that I seriously doubt that any of the other musicians pictured can match that, or even come close.
Annie Lennox is prettier now.
Joan Jett looks great, if you like her look in the first place, which I always have.
Charley Watts looks like he has always believed himself to be one of the luckiest guys in the world. He described his band as “Five English blokes playing American music”, and he was smiling broadly at the time. Gratitude wears well.
I think Cherie Currie looks better too. As for Joan Jett–she practically hasn’t changed!
Bob Dylan always looks dreadful. He can’t sue because truth is a defense.
Assuming that the old saying about after 40 you get the face you’ve earned is true, I don’t even want to imagine what he did to get a face like that.
Would Keith Richards please call Eternal Rest Funeral Home they can’t hold that coffin any longer. Thirtyyears is enough.
To almost every single one of those I say – Yikes! Dylan has something of a Mr. Potato Head look to him, and Neil Young seems to have morphed into a completely different human being. Bowie and Tom Petty probably look a bit better now. I’m not sure about what’s going on with her this very minute, but at one point not too long ago Joan Baez looked as good or better than she did when young, but I didn’t see her on that list.
Emmy Lou Harris!
Roger Daltrey has aged the best of any I’ve seen.
Nature or Nurture?
Please, check out a blog page I wrote.
http://jmawelsh.blogspot.com/2011/07/05-jan-11.html
I remember seeing Grace’s photo on her biography some years back. She looked much worse, then; seems better, now. What Indy said: “It’s not the years, it’s the mileage.”
Mick Jagger’s hagard, worn out look belies the myth that be a fitness obsessive is good for you.He has the appearance of many middle aged marathon runners;he maybe fit, but at what a cost!
Regarding time and man’s ephemeral existence, Raymond Ibrahim has written a remarkable article for American Thinker. It’s off his usual topic of jihad and radical Islam (He wrote the “Al Qaeda Reader) but given that he studied with VDH and received a minor in Philosophy from California State University, Fresno, the article’s subject, “Revelations of time,” shows, once again, that the truly great thinkers repudiate nihilism and, like our Founding Fathers, ground all meaning in God.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/10/revelations_of_time.html
I imagine a number of the women and the men too had plastic surgery and so that is why they look better.
David Bowie, Sting, John Bon Jovi & Annie Lennox look great – and I think that it’s because they’ve maintained their slim body weight over decades (unlike so many of the jowls you see on others). And prolonged drug/alcohol abuse takes its toll.
I also wonder about happiness. I know that at least Bon Jovi and Nugent have had stable family lives, (wife and kids) which I would imagine has not only prevented them from partying for decades, but it is also more fulfilling and enjoyable.
It’s the awful truth: You live long enough, you’re going to start looking OLD.
I’m going to spend the rest of the day refusing to look in the mirror…..
To see some rockers who have aged well and have a new album out, check out the Bangles: http://www.thebangles.com/_index.php
I looked into them mostly to see Suzanne Hoffs, not knowing the group is still kickin’.
I think the guys from Def Leppard have aged very well and their music though not as popular as before is very good! http://www.defleppard.com/
I still have a crush on Bowie….
Could’nt disagree more on Iggy Pop. If you’ve ever seen a pic of him shirtless, (and who has’nt?) the dude is ripped! Decades of abuse have certainly and permanently carved into the man but energetically and creatively he is VITAL! He also has a family and is being kind to himself now.