Brett Gleason by Thomas Evans
Another of my musical icons has failed to outlive their creativity. I'm sad Scott Weiland is no longer with us but mostly for his wife, children and the people who actually knew him. The rest of us can mourn the icon we created in his image as one of the last of a dying breed of a cultural phenomena I'm not sad to see go.
Appearing out of nowhere to entertain, enthrall and then disappear - the Rock Star was a mystery larger than life. They didn't care what anybody thought, didn't follow the rules, give a shit about the future or apologize for the past.
Is a person like this even possible today? It's not just social media demanding constant updates it's the consumers that want everything from artists, who expect to be not just entertained but engaged and even divulged in. I may be one of those artists who loves to oblige but that's just my style and I'm far from a star.
Would Kurt Cobain have posted selfies?
If he were still alive, what would his career look like? Odds are we'd be talking more about his relationship with Courtney or his struggle with drugs and depression than about his musical output...and if he'd sobered up, cut his hair and started scoring films? We'd never forgive him. Our Rock Stars were designed to burst into flames and anyone who evolves to a point of sustainability is written off as having lost their edge.
Which is ironic because American culture now fetishizes the every man, celebrates the mundane, and makes celebrities out of fools. If someone of talent and substance does make a mark they're briefly celebrated before being swiftly taken down by a public & media more concerned with who the artist slept with last night or what they had for breakfast this morning than how they wrote their last song. We refuse to accept an artist as being human then do everything in our power to prove their imperfections before blaming them for failing to live up to our expectations.
The myth of the Rock Star was never sustainable but it's especially unrealistic in today's music business with artists managing themselves and the ever-shrinking bottom line. Being a musician is now a sacrifice that involves working 16-hour days and funding your own projects: There is no more room for decadence. My hope is that as we come to see artists as people we also support and nourish them so they can continue to create and connect, for everyone's benefit.