Are aging rock superstars like Paul McCartney and the Rolling Stones timeless or too old to perform on stage anymore?

Too old

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by Joseph Whalen

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While their music may be timeless their bodies and their ability to perform clearly is not. There comes a time in everyone's career when you simply cannot perform at the expected or acceptable level any longer indicating it is time to retire. For professional athletes this epiphany of obsolescence comes when your body simply breaks down to the point at which you can't perform the amazing feats you once could. Helped along on this realization is the fact that you are competing against an ever increasingly younger group of professionals aiming to unseat you in your role. For rock superstars this epiphany seems to be less obvious and come at a much later age.

There is no denying the contributions that super groups like the Beatles and Rolling Stones have made to the music industry and to popular culture. Their music is still as popular and relevant today as it was forty years ago. Fortunately for these music professionals their early recordings can be digitally re-mastered and re-released in greatest hits compilations indefinitely. Their devoted fans will continue to eat up their works and pass them on to younger generations for years to come. What is unfortunate is that no matter how much technology they integrate with their stage shows; it will never be able to compensate for their advancing age.

Most respectable professionals have the foresight and dignity to know when to retire. In order to preserve your legacy and your achievements during the height of your career it is important to go out while you are on top. Or at the very least go out before you make your once grand display of talent look like a freakish side show. However, most of the rock superstars of today seem to have either over estimated their ability to continue playing or are simply far more concerned with their income than they are about their legacy.

Paul McCartney is a shining example of how to conduct yourself as a respectable rock legend. Despite ever increasing pressure he has not bowed to the demands of touring again as a Beatle. While his career is not dead, his appearances and performances have taken on the role of an elder statesmen or scholar who is imparting the wisdom of his age on to younger generations. Gone are the grand and extravagant stadium concerts, replaced with more personal venues playing to smaller crowds at a pace that suites a man of his age. The winding down of his career to something more manageable for someone his age is the best example of how to handle the aging of an icon that I can think of.

Unfortunately there are others who conduct themselves with less poise and dignity. Among these are the Rolling Stones who have become a caricature of themselves. They reached the pinnacle of ridiculous when playing the half time show at the super bowl a few years ago in what had to be the most atrocious performance of their entire careers. The winded and lack luster performance put forth at the super bowl highlighted every good reason for them to retire. Somehow they manage to trot their dilapidated and drug rehabilitated aging carcasses out on stage in an attempt to perform the same characteristic moves and performances that made them famous when they were half their age. You simply cannot keep up the same image of youth and vitality of a twenty five year old when you are approaching, and in some cases exceeding seventy years of age.

Another group that is pushing its limits, but for different reasons are the Eagles. As a huge fan and owner of all the Eagles albums, including their plethora of Greatest Hits, Best of, Very Best of, and Very Very Best of albums it's hard for me to put them down. However, they've made it very clear that the only reason they are continuing to make albums, their first in over twenty years by the way, and continue to tour is the money. This attitude is reflected in their grotesquely over priced tickets. While they've finally made the leap and put out a new studio album after twenty years and stopped putting out greatest hits compilations, they are doing it all for the wrong reasons. Yes they are old, and yes they are probably due to retire, this is a sad fact that I as a huge fan have come to terms with.

The one thing the Eagles have going for them over the Rolling Stones is their style of music. Which is infinitely more suited to be played by the geriatric group of musicians that they are rather than the ridiculous arena rock of the Rolling Stones. The majority of the songs the Eagles perform in concert can be done sitting on a stool under the soft lights and tame crowds found in most corner bars. The absence of the ridiculous half naked jumping around, microphone stand gyrating and crowd playing that is expected by the hyped up rowdy groups of fans at a Rolling Stones concert makes the Eagles performance on stage much more believable. That is assuming you can overlook the pick pocketing they are doing to your wallet for grossly overpriced concert tickets and merchandising that their concerts have become famous for.

As with most music fans I have very fond memories of these and other bands from my youth. Let me keep these memories of the bands in their heyday. Don't ruin the thousands of dollars of music I have in my collection by forcing me to picture the decrepit, emaciated and aged body of Mick Jagger bouncing around on stage huffing puffing the lyrics to Satisfaction as they try to keep their brand in people's minds at the ripe old age of seventy. Take a page out of Sir Paul's book and wind your concert days down with some grace and dignity, all the while refraining from stealing money from your fans in over priced and under performing concerts like the Eagles. Age gracefully and let your music, not your performances stand the test of time.

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