Rocking-chair rockers

Aging stars are dominating today's pop culture, and the reasons go beyond mere boomer nostalgia | Gene Edward Veith

The Grammy nominees for best male rock 'n' roll vocal performance are all over 50, except for one. Peter Gabriel is 52; Bruce Springsteen is 53; Robert Plant is 54, and David Bowie is 56. The one young sprout is Elvis Costello. He is 47.

The rock concerts that sold the most tickets in the record year of 2002 were put on by performers old enough, as Los Angeles Times critic Robert Hilburn has pointed out, to join the AARP. No. 1 was Paul McCartney, age 61. Second, the Rolling Stones, fronted by Mick Jagger, age 60. Then comes Cher, 57. And finally, the two piano men who toured together, Billy Joel, 54, and Elton John, 56.

In Pollstar's list of the top music acts in terms of revenue, combining concert and album sales, only three of the top 10 were young whippersnappers: Eminem (#1), Creed (#6), and Nelly (#7). The other seven were Mr. McCartney (#2), The Rolling Stones (#3), the Dave Matthews Band (Mr. Matthews being 36) (#4), Mr. Springsteen (#8), Alan Jackson (age 45) (#9), and Mr. Joel and Mr. John (#10).

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February 01, 2003, Vol. 18, No. 4

State of the Union 2003 Jan. 25, 2003	30 years of destruction Jan. 18, 2003	Lord of the box office Jan. 11, 2003
Year in Review 2002 Dec. 28, 2002	Fact & Fiction Dec. 21, 2002	Dick Armey's parting words Dec. 14, 2002