Post by the Scribe on Dec 28, 2016 22:26:33 GMT -5
Trying to lighten things up a bit with all the bad news lately. Why yahoo is printing this now is bizarre. I think if you are dead you are going to disappear. Like David Bowie. He is dead right? Grace Slick is a hoot.
13 Rock Stars Who Disappeared www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/13-rock-stars-who-disappeared-20120926/john-deacon-0529544
From David Bowie to D'arcy Wretzky, a guide to musicians who have left the spotlight behind
Grace Slick
Jefferson Airplane's Grace Slick believes something that few other veteran artists would likely agree with: Aging rock stars don't belong on a stage. "All rock-and-rollers over the age of 50 look stupid and should retire," she once said. Slick is now 72, and since a short Jefferson Airplane reunion tour ended in 1989, she has mostly left music behind to focus on her visual art. One exception was a brief appearance at a 2001 Jefferson Starship show in Los Angeles. But unlike most people on this list, Slick continues to talk to the media, and she's often photographed at her art shows.
Barrett Scale: 1. Refusing to tour for 23 years is no small accomplishment, considering all the money she could have made in that time. Slick has guested on others' albums every once in a while, but her last real LP was Jefferson Airplane's 1989 reunion album. But she still can't be considered a real recluse when she gives interviews and appears at public events.
Billy Joel
At first glance, Billy Joel might seem like an odd choice for this list. After all, the man just did a long podcast interview with Alec Baldwin, and he's a regular on the Hamptons social scene. He's also done Q&A sessions with college students, and last fall he even performed at New York's Beacon Theater for Sting's 60th birthday show. These are not the moves of a rock recluse. But consider the fact that Joel's last album of original material, River of Dreams, came out over 19 years ago. He hasn't played a single real concert since 2010, and he has no known plans to return to the road in the foreseeable future.
Barrett Scale: 0.5. Cancelling a memoir at the last minute, going two decades without a new album and getting off the road are classic signs of recluse-dom – but Joel is just too out there in public to say he's truly disappeared.
John Frusciante
Former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante is a relatively recent member of the Rock Recluse Club, having officially joined when he failed to show up at his own induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame earlier this year. During his second stint with the Chilis, from 1998 through 2007, the guitarist was widely available to the press and the public, but since leaving the group for a second time, he's become pretty elusive. He has, however, continued releasing music (albeit extremely uncommercial music) – his next solo LP, PBX Funicular Intaglio Zone, is due later this month. He was also photographed at a Johnny Ramone tribute in Los Angles last year.
Barrett Scale: 3. It's not like the dude never leaves the house – he just wants to do his own thing far away from the spotlight. But anyone who skips their own induction in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame gets a minimum of three Barrett points.
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell started threatening to retire around the late 1960s, but by the end of the 1990s, it seemed like the great singer-songwriter had finally gone and done it: Her 1998 LP, Taming The Tiger, was billed as her last album. This turned out to be a false alarm. Two years later, she returned with the jazz covers set Both Sides Now, and a similar orchestral LP devoted to her own material followed in 2002. Mitchell dropped out of the spotlight again for a while after that, until her 2007 album, Shine. Things have been very quiet since then, aside from a notorious 2010 interview with the Los Angeles Times in which she described her experience with Morgellons syndrome and ripped into former collaborator Bob Dylan. "He is not authentic at all," Mitchell said. "He’s a plagiarist, and his name and voice are fake. Everything about Bob is a deception. We are like night and day, he and I."
Barrett Scale: 4. Giving the occasional weird interview is a textbook recluse move, so Mitchell gets a point for that. She gets three more for skipping her Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 1997, although she had a good excuse – she had just re-connected with the daughter she gave up for adoption decades earlier. But despite her complete lack of concert appearances or new music in recent years, we can't go higher than a four. Mitchell still attends public events, like the time she sat with old friend Neil Young at his pre-Grammys tribute concert earlier this year. That's just not recluse behavior.
The Everly Brothers
The Everly Brothers were more or less retired in 2003, when Paul Simon managed to lure them back onto the road for a Simon and Garfunkel reunion tour. "They hadn't seen each other in about three years," Simon said. "They met in the parking lot before the first gig." Their brief sets in the middle of Simon and Garfunkel's headlining performances were transcendent. Fans got very excited when the Everlys announced their own tour of England in November 2005, and there were even dates on the books for an American run in February 2006. Sadly, those were cancelled with little explanation, and Don and Phil Everly haven't played together since. The brothers are rarely seen in public these days, although Don did perform "Bye Bye Love" with Paul Simon in Nashville last year, and Phil sang at a Buddy Holly tribute show a few months after that.
Barrett Scale: 4. The Everly Brothers lead very private lives, and it's extremely difficult to get them to agree to an interview. (Believe us, we've tried.) Both still seem to have pretty strong voices, and they could probably tour if they wanted to. But for whatever reason, they're opting not to.
David Bowie
David Bowie's disappearance eight years ago was swift and sudden. He had worked pretty consistently from the mid-Sixties up through the world tour for 2003's Reality, which was cut short when he had to undergo emergency heart surgery in 2004. He made a few onstage appearances after that, guesting at David Gilmour and Alicia Keys gigs, but a 2007 comeback show in New York was called off with little notice. Bowie's near-silence since then has led some fans to speculate (without much evidence) about further health problems. "I'm not thinking of touring," he told the New York Times in June 2010. "I'm fine." That short quote is pretty much the extent of Bowie's public comments about his retirement. While he's often photographed walking around New York City looking just fine, there is no hint of any upcoming activity.
Barrett Scale: 6. Bowie has apparently ceased all recording and concert activity, and he largely avoids the press. But he continues to live in New York, where he attends the occasional concert and even appears at fashion and charity events with his wife, Iman. It's hard to be a true recluse while you're posing for red carpet photos with your supermodel spouse. Still, Bowie has gone remarkably quiet on the music front. "Bring Me the Disco King," the final song on his final album to date, seems prescient in retrospect: "Close me in the dark/let me disappear/Soon there'll be nothing left of me/Nothing left to release."
Sly Stone
For many years, Sly Stone battled Syd Barrett for the title of rock's most notorious recluse. Sly and the Family Stone's brilliant, troubled leader battled drug problems through much of the 1970s; by the mid-Eighties, his career had ground to a halt, and he went off the radar. Stone shocked everyone by turning up at the band's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 1993, but he disappeared again right afterwards. In 2006, he popped up during a tribute to his music at the Grammys. We hate to be cruel to a legend, but he wasn't looking or sounding his best. Last year, a report emerged that Stone was virtually homeless and living in a van, but his team issued an immediate denial.
Barrett Scale: 7. Stone has made a number of live appearances in the past six years, but they've been bizarre, unpredictable and erratic. The few interviews he's given have suggested that one of rock's great talents is in a sad, diminished state.
Fats Domino
In 1949, long before Elvis and Chuck Berry hit the scene, Fats Domino released his debut single, "The Fat Man." Many consider it the first rock song. Hits like "Blueberry Hill" and "Ain't That A Shame" followed in the 1950s, and he toured the oldies circuit regularly from the 1960s through the 1990s. But things slowed down dramatically after that – largely due to Domino's reluctance to leave his hometown of New Orleans. He played around town about once a year in the early 2000s, including a few Jazz Fest performances, but that was it. During Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Domino was briefly reported missing; thankfully, it turned out that he was just crashing with Louisiana State quarterback JaMarcus Russell after being rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter. He's been laying low since then, aside from a 2007 show at Tipitina's in New Orleans.
Barrett Scale: 5. Much like Don and Phil Everly, Fats is more "retired" than "reclusive" – a fine distinction, but a key one. It seems very unlikely that he will get back to performing any time soon.
Agnetha Fältskog
Abba's four members have little incentive to do much of anything these days. Their catalog continues to pump tons of money into their bank accounts, and the musical Mamma Mia! packs theaters every night all across the world. Aside from that, the group consists of two divorced couples. So it's no wonder they've reportedly turned down offers of a billion dollars for a reunion tour. Of the four, Agnetha Fältskog keeps the lowest profile, reportedly rarely leaving Stockholm. She showed up at the premiere of the Mamma Mia! movie in 2008 – but only posed for photos on a balcony with the movie's cast, far away from her three former bandmates. And she was nowhere to be seen when Abba got inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010.
Barrett Scale: 6. Fältskog isn't seen very often, but she did release a solo LP in 2004. Still, skipping out on the Hall of Fame induction scores her some big points, as does her apparent reluctance to venture outside of Europe.
13 Rock Stars Who Disappeared www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/13-rock-stars-who-disappeared-20120926/john-deacon-0529544
From David Bowie to D'arcy Wretzky, a guide to musicians who have left the spotlight behind
Grace Slick
Jefferson Airplane's Grace Slick believes something that few other veteran artists would likely agree with: Aging rock stars don't belong on a stage. "All rock-and-rollers over the age of 50 look stupid and should retire," she once said. Slick is now 72, and since a short Jefferson Airplane reunion tour ended in 1989, she has mostly left music behind to focus on her visual art. One exception was a brief appearance at a 2001 Jefferson Starship show in Los Angeles. But unlike most people on this list, Slick continues to talk to the media, and she's often photographed at her art shows.
Barrett Scale: 1. Refusing to tour for 23 years is no small accomplishment, considering all the money she could have made in that time. Slick has guested on others' albums every once in a while, but her last real LP was Jefferson Airplane's 1989 reunion album. But she still can't be considered a real recluse when she gives interviews and appears at public events.
Billy Joel
At first glance, Billy Joel might seem like an odd choice for this list. After all, the man just did a long podcast interview with Alec Baldwin, and he's a regular on the Hamptons social scene. He's also done Q&A sessions with college students, and last fall he even performed at New York's Beacon Theater for Sting's 60th birthday show. These are not the moves of a rock recluse. But consider the fact that Joel's last album of original material, River of Dreams, came out over 19 years ago. He hasn't played a single real concert since 2010, and he has no known plans to return to the road in the foreseeable future.
Barrett Scale: 0.5. Cancelling a memoir at the last minute, going two decades without a new album and getting off the road are classic signs of recluse-dom – but Joel is just too out there in public to say he's truly disappeared.
John Frusciante
Former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante is a relatively recent member of the Rock Recluse Club, having officially joined when he failed to show up at his own induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame earlier this year. During his second stint with the Chilis, from 1998 through 2007, the guitarist was widely available to the press and the public, but since leaving the group for a second time, he's become pretty elusive. He has, however, continued releasing music (albeit extremely uncommercial music) – his next solo LP, PBX Funicular Intaglio Zone, is due later this month. He was also photographed at a Johnny Ramone tribute in Los Angles last year.
Barrett Scale: 3. It's not like the dude never leaves the house – he just wants to do his own thing far away from the spotlight. But anyone who skips their own induction in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame gets a minimum of three Barrett points.
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell started threatening to retire around the late 1960s, but by the end of the 1990s, it seemed like the great singer-songwriter had finally gone and done it: Her 1998 LP, Taming The Tiger, was billed as her last album. This turned out to be a false alarm. Two years later, she returned with the jazz covers set Both Sides Now, and a similar orchestral LP devoted to her own material followed in 2002. Mitchell dropped out of the spotlight again for a while after that, until her 2007 album, Shine. Things have been very quiet since then, aside from a notorious 2010 interview with the Los Angeles Times in which she described her experience with Morgellons syndrome and ripped into former collaborator Bob Dylan. "He is not authentic at all," Mitchell said. "He’s a plagiarist, and his name and voice are fake. Everything about Bob is a deception. We are like night and day, he and I."
Barrett Scale: 4. Giving the occasional weird interview is a textbook recluse move, so Mitchell gets a point for that. She gets three more for skipping her Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 1997, although she had a good excuse – she had just re-connected with the daughter she gave up for adoption decades earlier. But despite her complete lack of concert appearances or new music in recent years, we can't go higher than a four. Mitchell still attends public events, like the time she sat with old friend Neil Young at his pre-Grammys tribute concert earlier this year. That's just not recluse behavior.
The Everly Brothers
The Everly Brothers were more or less retired in 2003, when Paul Simon managed to lure them back onto the road for a Simon and Garfunkel reunion tour. "They hadn't seen each other in about three years," Simon said. "They met in the parking lot before the first gig." Their brief sets in the middle of Simon and Garfunkel's headlining performances were transcendent. Fans got very excited when the Everlys announced their own tour of England in November 2005, and there were even dates on the books for an American run in February 2006. Sadly, those were cancelled with little explanation, and Don and Phil Everly haven't played together since. The brothers are rarely seen in public these days, although Don did perform "Bye Bye Love" with Paul Simon in Nashville last year, and Phil sang at a Buddy Holly tribute show a few months after that.
Barrett Scale: 4. The Everly Brothers lead very private lives, and it's extremely difficult to get them to agree to an interview. (Believe us, we've tried.) Both still seem to have pretty strong voices, and they could probably tour if they wanted to. But for whatever reason, they're opting not to.
David Bowie
David Bowie's disappearance eight years ago was swift and sudden. He had worked pretty consistently from the mid-Sixties up through the world tour for 2003's Reality, which was cut short when he had to undergo emergency heart surgery in 2004. He made a few onstage appearances after that, guesting at David Gilmour and Alicia Keys gigs, but a 2007 comeback show in New York was called off with little notice. Bowie's near-silence since then has led some fans to speculate (without much evidence) about further health problems. "I'm not thinking of touring," he told the New York Times in June 2010. "I'm fine." That short quote is pretty much the extent of Bowie's public comments about his retirement. While he's often photographed walking around New York City looking just fine, there is no hint of any upcoming activity.
Barrett Scale: 6. Bowie has apparently ceased all recording and concert activity, and he largely avoids the press. But he continues to live in New York, where he attends the occasional concert and even appears at fashion and charity events with his wife, Iman. It's hard to be a true recluse while you're posing for red carpet photos with your supermodel spouse. Still, Bowie has gone remarkably quiet on the music front. "Bring Me the Disco King," the final song on his final album to date, seems prescient in retrospect: "Close me in the dark/let me disappear/Soon there'll be nothing left of me/Nothing left to release."
Sly Stone
For many years, Sly Stone battled Syd Barrett for the title of rock's most notorious recluse. Sly and the Family Stone's brilliant, troubled leader battled drug problems through much of the 1970s; by the mid-Eighties, his career had ground to a halt, and he went off the radar. Stone shocked everyone by turning up at the band's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 1993, but he disappeared again right afterwards. In 2006, he popped up during a tribute to his music at the Grammys. We hate to be cruel to a legend, but he wasn't looking or sounding his best. Last year, a report emerged that Stone was virtually homeless and living in a van, but his team issued an immediate denial.
Barrett Scale: 7. Stone has made a number of live appearances in the past six years, but they've been bizarre, unpredictable and erratic. The few interviews he's given have suggested that one of rock's great talents is in a sad, diminished state.
Fats Domino
In 1949, long before Elvis and Chuck Berry hit the scene, Fats Domino released his debut single, "The Fat Man." Many consider it the first rock song. Hits like "Blueberry Hill" and "Ain't That A Shame" followed in the 1950s, and he toured the oldies circuit regularly from the 1960s through the 1990s. But things slowed down dramatically after that – largely due to Domino's reluctance to leave his hometown of New Orleans. He played around town about once a year in the early 2000s, including a few Jazz Fest performances, but that was it. During Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Domino was briefly reported missing; thankfully, it turned out that he was just crashing with Louisiana State quarterback JaMarcus Russell after being rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter. He's been laying low since then, aside from a 2007 show at Tipitina's in New Orleans.
Barrett Scale: 5. Much like Don and Phil Everly, Fats is more "retired" than "reclusive" – a fine distinction, but a key one. It seems very unlikely that he will get back to performing any time soon.
Agnetha Fältskog
Abba's four members have little incentive to do much of anything these days. Their catalog continues to pump tons of money into their bank accounts, and the musical Mamma Mia! packs theaters every night all across the world. Aside from that, the group consists of two divorced couples. So it's no wonder they've reportedly turned down offers of a billion dollars for a reunion tour. Of the four, Agnetha Fältskog keeps the lowest profile, reportedly rarely leaving Stockholm. She showed up at the premiere of the Mamma Mia! movie in 2008 – but only posed for photos on a balcony with the movie's cast, far away from her three former bandmates. And she was nowhere to be seen when Abba got inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010.
Barrett Scale: 6. Fältskog isn't seen very often, but she did release a solo LP in 2004. Still, skipping out on the Hall of Fame induction scores her some big points, as does her apparent reluctance to venture outside of Europe.