Silver Rockers - Gray Hair and Enduring Stardom

Silver Rockers - Gray Hair and Enduring Stardom

Hey everybody, it is The Trout, welcome to another Trout Show. Thank you so much for stopping by for this episode of Vinyl to Viral, we appreciate it very much. I'm going to give you some numbers here, I want you to all think about what these numbers have in common.

Are you ready? Here we go. 81, 76, 77, 70, 83, 78, 73, 75, 80. Yes, they all have something in common, and it's something that we're going to talk about on this episode of The Trout Show, because as some people say, age is just a number, or is it? That's up next, because this is The Trout Show.

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Hey, welcome back to The Trout Show, thanks for stopping by. Those numbers that I read at the top of the show represent ages of rock musicians that are still performing to this day. It's hard for me to believe when I start thinking about the people that I enjoyed as a youth are still doing their thing.

Paul McCartney just turned 83. John Fogerty just turned 80. Even Sting is in his 70s.

Deborah Harry is like 77 now, or even older than that. I can't remember, but they're just getting so much older. And it always amazes me that they continue to do what they do because it, as I can tell you personally, as you get older, it gets more difficult for you to be able to do what you want to do.

And I also thought about, why do they keep doing it? Most of these people have lots and lots of money. They don't need to do anything. They can go out and retire someplace and enjoy themselves.

But for some reason, they still tour. And I thought about that too because I think what it is, and I remember talking to a great musician out of Europe a couple years ago, and he had just interviewed some very famous musicians, and we were talking about Keith Richards and Mick Jagger. And I said, why do they keep touring? In fact, by the last year, their tour grossed $200 million.

That's probably one of the reasons. But I said, I don't understand. Why aren't they just relaxing? He made a comment that I've never forgotten.

He said, can you imagine Mick Jagger and Keith Richards sitting in front of a TV and watching it? I said, no way. I just can't imagine Mick Jagger and Keith Richards saying something about, hey, let's watch our favorite sitcom. It just never crosses my mind.

But it's easy to point out too that these performers that are performing in their older age, as they say, made comments about their age when they were young. At the top of the show, you got to hear a little bit of My Generation by The Who, where Roger Daltrey says, I hope I die before I get old. Roger Daltrey's 81.

And also, I think I was told years ago that Mick Jagger made a comment about, I'm not going to be singing Can't Get No Satisfaction When I Get Old. 60 years later, he's still singing it. In fact, probably on his last tour.

I guess we should look at this as we should celebrate the fact that these people continue singing and performing. I guess that's a longevity situation there. But we all know what really happens in life.

Some people get the situation where they get to live a long time and some are taken early from us. Just recently, we lost two great performers, actually three great performers, Sly Stone, Brian Wilson and Rick Derringer. This story made me think they were still playing in their 70s and 80s.

My favorite artists, a lot of them are still out there touring. It just blows my mind when I think about it. But aging is universal.

And my favorite rock musicians face the same physical, emotional and professional challenges as anyone living. Although they're under the spotlight when we mention how old they are. I'm sure sometimes they probably wish that people would not talk about me being 83 or 77.

The other thing they have to do too is you think about this when you mention the stars that I just mentioned. I don't see any fat people out there. Out of shape people.

They look like regular sized people that probably work out a lot to keep up their exercise routine on stage. Because it's not easy standing up there for a couple of hours playing, especially as you get older. Touring is brutal.

I don't care who you are, you still got to go from one town to the next. So a lot of times they have to work on their stamina on stage, but also their voices and their medical situation. We have no idea how these people, what they're doing for medical situations.

I know that as I've gotten older that my guitar playing is not nearly as sharp as it was when I was even 20 years ago. And some of the stars take different tracks of how they want to perform. Personally I think, let's just say like Paul McCartney, Paul McCartney is still releasing music.

Whereas a lot of these older stars, maybe not the ones that are A-listers, do tours to make up the difference and they're not getting royalties like they used to. And also you got to remember, as they get older, so do their fan bases get older. Yeah, they got a lot of young people come to their concerts, but a lot of the people who are sitting out in the crowd are 60 plus because they grew up on their music.

And here's an interesting statistic to think about. The average age of a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee is now, you ready? Over 70 years old. With many of them, as I said earlier, still active.

Sheryl Crow is 61 and Willie Nelson still does his thing at 91 years old. But as I said earlier, these stars get older, they've got problems physically too. Roger Dalter, who is one of the great rock singers, had to scale back his touring because he couldn't deal with his vocal strains too much.

And a lot of some of these people, I know if you've read about, I know I have, have lost their hearing, a lot of it, because they played in front of such great amps and loud and all that stuff. And as I said earlier also, we focus on a few of these aging rock stars, especially the ones that are still touring, as I said. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, both now 81, still tour.

Last year they released their Hackney Diamonds tour, their album, excuse me. And as I said, they grossed $200 million on that. Bruce Springsteen is 75.

He's known for his marathon shows. But recently he postponed tour dates due to his health issues. He had peptic ulcer disease.

A rock star with an ulcer, think about that. And Blondie's Debbie Harry, who I said earlier, she's actually 79, still performs with her punk edge. Adapting her style while maintaining revelance.

I asked Mick Jagger one time, because he keeps in really great shape, how does he do it? And he said, I can still move, but maybe with a bit more creak. And I know this from my mom who lived to be a ripe old age of 103. Keith Richards infamously said one time, I've outlived my doctors.

Which is true, the older you get, that's what happens. But how do these rock artists adapt to their age? Robert Plant, who's 76, has shifted from Led Zeppelin's banshee wails to a richer blueser tone in his solo work. And he often uses tech like in-ear monitors for better pitch control, so he can hear that music better.

And the Stones, for example, rehearse over 60 songs to nail their set lists, ensuring Mick Jagger's voice is not overtaxed. But health challenges do loom large for these people. Ozzy Osbourne, who's 76, cancelled his 2024 tours due to Parkinson's.

Many hearts were broken because he wasn't performing fans' hearts, that is. And one of the fans even wrote, quote, Ozzy deserves to rest, but I'm gutted, end quote. I mentioned Springsteen's longevity on the tour.

His wife was diagnosed with a blood cancer disease back in 2018, and she limits her tour performances. These stories remind us one thing. They may be our rock idols, but they are humans, not immortals.

I guess we should thank the fact that we still get to hear them live, that they're still with us, because, as we know in life, you never know how long you're going to live. And even people like Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, will move on to the Rock and All Hall of Fame in heaven one day. But while they're here, I suggest you go see them, because they are a history that you cannot make up ever again.

I'm just thankful that we still have their music, no matter what form you listen to, that will outlive them forever. Is age a number? I think it is when you're 20, but it gets to be kind of questionable when you're 83. If you'd like to follow me on Instagram, my handle is TexasRocker.

A big thank you once again to David Smith for keeping our lights on here at the Trout Show. Thank you, Mr. David Smith. And until next time, people, you know what I always say.

It's only rock and roll, but I love it. See ya! you