Musicians used to be Gods… What happened? » The Music Mag

Musicians used to be Gods… What happened?

Looking back perhaps 10 to 20 years ago there were certain musicians thought of as living legends, and even by some as musical ‘Gods’.

Being a musician (a successful one) was thought to be an illustrious career, vastly separated from real life. Examples of this include the high quantities of drugs, masses of smashed guitars, thousands of pounds of damages in hotel rooms, and lets not forget tons and tons of sex. But now for the vast majority of the public if a musician was to act in this way they’d be labelled as an idiot, a bad role model and be looked down upon – with The Libertines front man Pete Doherty being a fine example.

So what actually took place in the past 20 years to cause this change? A change from when musicians such as Slash, Paul Simonon, Robert Plant, Kurt Cobain, Pete Townshend and countless others were heralded for their god-like status, which included the use of drugs and disrespect for authority. But in this present day and age may very well have been looked down upon for these actions.

Amy Winehouse may be a good comparison to the drug using rock icons of yesteryear. Whenever she was snapped looking wasted or off her face on drugs it became a national epidemic. So much so that she had to attend rehab to retain her public image. The drugs however lead to her death, as they may have many musicians in the past. Perhaps this is why drug use in music has become taboo rather than standard.

Drugs don’t necessarily link hand in hand with iconic status. Look at KISS, Iron Maiden, Axel Rose, Bruce Springstein, and Elvis to name a few… in their day they were thought of as walking, living, breathing Gods among men.

Perhaps one of the reasons that nowaday musicians and bands don’t seem so God-like is because they are accesible. They all have websites, myspace, facebook and twitter accounts, they are snapped by paparazzi and have stories about their every day lives published in papers constantly. Their music can also be downloaded (legally or not) at any time, everything is very attainable.

So is it the advancement of media that has knocked the musicians off the thrown that they once sat upon? Bringing everybody down a level to be within reach to the masses of adoring fans. Another thing to ask is ‘is this a bad thing?’

One of the most iconic figures of the past 10 years within music is the late Michael Jackson. He is on par with Elvis for his countless hits and will be remembered for as long as the other legends; I’m sure the majority of the westernised world has heard, if not owned, something by Michael Jackson. He appeals to many diffeent tastes and was extremely unique. But it is perhaps this ‘uniqueness’ which was also his downfall.

Whilst untouchable within music, his personal life was not. He was accused of paedophilia, he dangled his newly born baby from a window, and he had a few strange attributes to say the least. But nobody really heard much about his personal life before the rise of the internet and growth of print media. When neverland was being built years and years ago, surely if things were they way they are now big questions would have been raised. Going back further during the time when he altered the appearance of his skin, again more question’s would have been made and his music status may have been affected because of this.

The simple fact is that Michael Jackson was indeed regarded as an icon when he died, but not as a God. His personal life deteriorated his image to such an extent that some people even felt awkward admitting that they liked him, because for some reason they would then be associated with his personal life aswell.

And that’s where the answer is drawn from: people are associated with not just the music they listen to, but with the musicians themselves. 10 or 20 years ago, before the every day availability of the internet and huge demand for celebrity information (or perhaps there is just more access to it nowadays) musicians were idolised for their music. Currently musicians are reckonised for their music, but scrutinised for their personal life.

With the development of the internet perhaps we have seen the last of the rock and pop Gods of yesteryear for good.