rock stars today ain't half as real....

[dime in the gutter]

today's rock stars? post 1995 or so for the pedantic.

black keys dudes
jim james
tweedy
grohl

[Zip City]

Joshua Homme
Jack White

[bovine knievel]

First person that came to my mind was Chris Robinson but that would be early 90's.

Kings of Leon

[Iowan]

Vedder
Flea
Morello

[Iowan]

First person that came to my mind was Chris Robinson but that would be early 90's.

Kings of Leon

Under dime's qualifications, Chris Robinson would be legit, as Grohl and Tweedy were putting out some of their landmark albums pre-1995.

[StormandStatic]

I've been thinking about this. For whatever reason, metal bands never ascend to 'rock star' status anymore. There are no more Dimebag Darrels or Dave Mustaines (well, besides Mustaine being alive) in metal anymore. However, I would say the music in general is better, and more underground, so maybe that's not a bad payoff.

[Smitty]

Pete Doherty
Ryan Adams

[tinnitus photography]

Tweedy a rock star? i love what the guy's done, but where is the swagger and bravado? i've talked w/ him a couple of times and he's definitely not a larger than life character. not that that's a bad thing....

[tinnitus photography]

Pete Doherty
Ryan Adams

two gaping assholes

[beantownbubba]

I hope this isn't too pedantic, but what is this thread about?

[Smitty]

I hope this isn't too pedantic, but what is this thread about?

Musicians who are closest to the traditional "rock star" - you know, artists whose personalities are outsized, not just faceless musicians.

On a smaller scale, Mike Cooley and Patterson Hood. David Berman is definitely a character.
It pains me to say it, but Kid Rock fits the bill. Dave Grohl, Eddie Vedder, Thom Yorke, Jack White and Kid Rock are probably the biggest "rockstars" since Kurt Cobain died.

[dime in the gutter]

i can most def make an argument for dimmer twins as rock stars.

tweedy...not really, but he's the best a lot of folks have got.

[bovine knievel]

His 15 minutes is up

[beantownbubba]

I hope this isn't too pedantic, but what is this thread about?

Musicians who are closest to the traditional "rock star" - you know, artists whose personalities are outsized, not just faceless musicians.

On a smaller scale, Mike Cooley and Patterson Hood. David Berman is definitely a character.
It pains me to say it, but Kid Rock fits the bill. Dave Grohl, Eddie Vedder, Thom Yorke, Jack White and Kid Rock are probably the biggest "rockstars" since Kurt Cobain died.

Thanks.

It's a pop star era, right? Taylor Swift and a whole bunch of american, errrr, idols. Tough time to be a rock star.

[cortez the killer]

[Zip City]

Billy Joe Armstrong

[Shakespeare]

Joshua Homme
Jack White

the two big ones for me

i greatly prefer homme's music but they both have plenty of whatever rock star swagger is, and theyre two of the only active rockers i could easily see fronting great 60's/70's bands

[Iowan]

[dogstar]

Musicians who are closest to the traditional "rock star" - you know, artists whose personalities are outsized, not just faceless musicians.

On this definition Kanye West probably qualifies.

[Dean]

Julian Casablancas
John Frusciante
Billy Corgan

[LuthierJustin]

[RevMatt]

The "rock star" is an interesting phenomenon. Prior to The Beatles the most popular singers were able to parlay their fame into starring roles in movies. Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Elvis Pressley all took this route. The Beatles went in that direction too. Early in their career they signed a three movie deal but they were able to make the third film a cartoon so they could focus on their work in the recording studio.

I guess The Rolling Stones were the first band to be marketed as "rock stars" from the get go. A rock star was different from a movie star. The Hollywood publicists tried to avoid the sort of scandals that could hurt a major star's reputation. Rock stars flaunted it. The first time The Rolling Stones landed in the US Andrew Loog Oldham put out a press release that said something like "The Rolling Stones just arrived in New York City and they haven't bathed in a week." It got to the point that stories and rumors were planted to enhance a rock star's reputation. While Hollywood set up fake marriages and relationships for their gay male stars, David Bowie pretended to be gay even though his orientation was strictly heterosexual.

The rock star era ended some time in the mid-nineties. It would tie the entire era -- 1965 to 1995 roughly -- in a nice little bow to say that it ended when Kurt Cobain blew his brains out. But Cobain's suicide isn't the reason why working musicians in rock bands are no longer able to parlay their musical output into some kind of rock star notoriety. Instead, there were major changes in the way bands were markedted as well as the audience's reaction to rock bands.

It is hard to believe that in 1973 a bass player in a band with a record on the charts could be considered some kind of star. I have about six Wilco albums but wouldn't recognize John Stirratt if we crossed paths in a 7-11 on an afternoon when they were arriving in my town for a gig. (If a tour bus was in the 7-11 parking lot I could figure out who the band is through deductive reasoning.) But Jack Cassady who played bass in Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna? I'd recognize him in a second.

Today the life of a musician in a working rock band is more like that of a jazz musician in the 1960's.

[Dean]

Not sure about the time frame requirement but Slash and Scott Weiland are about as Rock Star as it gets

To me, rock star is all about attitude

[RolanK]

Justin Bieber.

[RevMatt]

From the days when rock stars were rock stars.

[Kudzu Guillotine]

I don't think the "rock star era" is over anymore than rock n' roll itself is.

[tinnitus photography]

Julian Casablancas
John Frusciante
Billy Corgan

the first two could go into 100 Starbucks in different major cities and not get a 2nd glance.

Corgan would draw glances, but only because he's Uncle Fester.

[Dean]

Julian Casablancas
John Frusciante
Billy Corgan

the first two could go into 100 Starbucks in different major cities and not get a 2nd glance.

Corgan would draw glances, but only because he's Uncle Fester.

Is that the standard?

Of so I change my answer to Nicky Minaj

[tinnitus photography]

well, 'rock stars' are usually easily recognized.


some might say they are bigger than jeebus.

[RevMatt]

I don't think the "rock star era" is over anymore than rock n' roll itself is.

Then why can we only name maybe half a dozen "rock stars" in the past ten years?

The music industry cannot turn a brand new band into rock stars. They haven't been able to accomplish this in over a decade. Working bands have to hit the road, utilize social media effectively, put their music out there by any and every means necessary, usually on their own dime and find their own audience. Acting like a "rock star" in a club with 25 people won't work. In fact, the people there will regard you as arrogant.

The making of "rock stars" had a whole lot to do with the industry selling some kind of image. But the industry can no longer do that with rock bands. All they can offer a band is that once their audience reaches a certain size they can more efficiently get their music to the masses than an indie label.