Artists who were great when young.. suck when old

[schnarkle]

Stevie Wonder
Elton John
Billy Joel

Amazing how great they were when young and struggling. Now? meh...

any others to add?

 

[Orange&White]

Steve Earle

 

[PFD]

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[mr. sunshine]

If we're not limited to recording artists only, how about Orson Welles? He wrote, starred in, directed and produced what is widely considered the greatest movie of all time at age 27. The Magnificent Ambersons and Touch of Evil were damn fine flicks, but he's remembered as a cheap wine-pimping punchline.

 

[Rip76]

Good picks....

I'll add Bruce Springsteen (well personally I think his first 4 albums are the only good ones.)

Elton John - except for his last album.

 

[halsteadfrost]

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[alden]

Metallica

George Lucas

 

[TXSooner518]

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[DigglerontheHoof]

Elvis

 

[CottonEyedHorn]

REM

 

[Michael Knight]

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[El_Oso]

Neil Young

Wait, was he ever young. It seems liek he has always been old. He just sucks now.

 

[Bevo Incognito]

Donny Osmond.

 

[Bytor]

Eddie Murphy. What do I win?

 

[Beau Vine]

Eddie Vedder.

Although "great" doesn't seem to capture how awesome Pearl Jam was, and maybe he doesn't "suck" now, but man...

 

[LITNIN HORN]

El Oso...Neil Young has always been Young, not old.

 

[blueag09]

MJ

 

[Seattle Husker]

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[Mr.Wizard]

I disagree regarding Neil Young, he still does what he wants to do.

REM has been chasing it for years, and are now a parody.

I thought Bob Dylan, but saw him at Stubb's and it blew my mind, but next night at ACL, did not transfer.

Hmmmmmmmmm

Kurt Cobain maybe?

 

[schnarkle]

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[IsThatATitleist?]

I immediately thought of The Rolling Stones when I saw this thread. Haven't had anything of a hit since circa 1980.

 

[YoLaDu]

99% of great musical artists did their best work when they were young. Groups like the Who, the Stones, REM, Neil Young or Springsteen aren't ever ever ever going to reach that level or artistry or inspiration again.

Conversely, one could argue that in the visual arts many artists do their best work in their later years, especially architects.

 

[roy_batty]

Bowie
McCartney
Sting
Robert Plant
Aerosmith

Put down the drugs, put down your talent. Hendrix, Morrison, and Cobain would have sucked too, given enough time.

 

[UT Spring Branch]

Saw Robert Plant earlier this year - he does not suck

 

[Rip76]

"Eddie Vedder.

Although "great" doesn't seem to capture how awesome Pearl Jam was, and maybe he doesn't "suck" now, but man..."

Exibit A. (greatness)
The Link

The Link

 

[roy_batty]

To each his own, UTSB. If he's risen above "suck" in his dottage, more power to him. But it's clear "great" left him sometime after Physical Graffiti was mastered.

 

[TXHookem]

First name I thought of when I saw the thread was Rod Stewart.

 

[RoyalTennenhorn]

Not sure that they were ever "great" but Aerosmith have certainly gone down hill dramatically over the years.

 

[Horn89]

You guys really want to put Billy Joel, Elton John, and Paul McCartney on this list?

You're talking about 3 guys who would be on most everyone's top-20 (arguably all 3 are in the top-10) songwriters in the history of rock music. They wrote some of the all-time greatest rock anthems, and each one had MULTIPLE platinum records. Each guy had hit songs across 3 decades of their lives.

Those guys are like 60-65 years old now. Were you expecting more guitar-smashing ballads of teen angst?

I'm not arguing that each one is still at the top of his game, or that any of them have made a 5-star record in the last 5 years, but ****, if those 3 don't have rock and roll tenure, who does?

I wouldn't defend Elvis to the same extent, because the time he spent on the top of his game was much, much shorter than the time he spent making ****** movies and being a fat, mumbling, painfully sad shadow of his former greatness.

I think Joel hasn't even made a new rock record in the last 15 years, so it's not like he's out there trying to be a badass.

 

[1918Speedway]

I would have to disagree with Elton John being on the list. I have seen him about 6 times at various stages in his career. Saw him about a year ago in Vegas and he still puts on a hell of a good show. No, not all the high notes are still there, but he is a great showman.