Seems most rock/pop/disco/etc. performers profiled in this show have had their lives/careers ruined or almost ruined by:
drugs
losing all their money
crime
drugs
not being popular anymore
and, oh yeah, drugs
Can anyone name a musician who got famous, made a lot of money, didn’t let their stardom go to their heads, never touched drugs, retired graciously, and is now living The Good Life in Boca Ratón, with no regrets?
Weird Al Yankovic came close, but even he almost had his career derailed by a bad career choice (that whole “UHF” (a good movie, BTW) debacle).
How come those “Behind the Music” documentaries never end with “…at present Joe Rockstar is still strung out on drugs and being stalked by his illegitamate lovechild he had with a groupie who he tried to have killed by his former bodyguard who is now writing a tell-all book about Joe Rockstar’s current obsession with snuff films and sheep auctions.”
Elmer J. Fudd,
Millionaire.
I own a mansion and a yacht.
I thought this was going to be about music coming from your behind. Damn! But seriously, Weird Al is one of my favorites and I have no idea what you are talking about in regards to the UHF movie… could you clue me in a bit?
Al recovered from UHF and is still knocking them dead on the state fair circuit. I saw him in the fall in Phoenix where he packed the house at the old veteran’s coluseum. His show is a hoot and/or holler.
Debbie Harry seems to be doing fine–the reason her career slowed down is because she took time off to nurse her boyfriend back to health after he developed some rare blood disease. More noble than a drug addiction. . .
Last I heard of Mark Knopfler (of Dire Straits fame) is that he is quite a good racing driver in the English Porsche 911 Championships. And barring a few lagers, this guy was always clean and down to earth.
Oh, and he does still make the occasional solo album. What was that last one again, “Heart of Gold” or something ?
Just watched the BTMs for Heart, Tom Petty, and Genesis, all groups/performers that managed to have long, successful careers without debilitating drug problems. They also are all (well, maybe not Genesis itself) experiencing new periods of creativity.
“UHF” was supposed to be Weird Al’s big breakthrough into motion pictures. Weird Al played a burger-flipping loser who inherits a local UHF station and tries to make it competitive in a world dominated by cable. He fails miserably, time and time again, until he hits paydirt with a children’s show hosted by Stanly Spidowski the Janitor, played by some unknown actor named Michael Richards.
The movie bombed. Terribly. Got horrible reviews, too.
It’s a pretty good movie, if you like slapstick and parody-driven humor. Today it’s considered a “cult classic.”
Waitjustaminute. Guy, are you sh*tting me? Frank Zappa never did drugs? Are you sure? Those kids’ names are enough proof that 'shrooms had to have been ingested at some point.
Not to go off on a tangent, but what exactly do Frank Zappa’s children do? I always see them on talk shows, or hosting game shows and everyone just says “Oh, it’s Dweezil Zappa.” But did they ever do anything to deserve their fame, or are they just professional Frank Zappa’s children?
Jimmy Buffet would qualify - he makes a zillion dollars a year doing concerts, and lives in the Florida Keys and flies his own airplanes around and writes bestselling novels.
John Denver did much the same thing until he was killed flying his Long-EZE.
The band Rush has been together for something like 25 years, and all of them are drug-free and do exciting things. Alex Lifeson is a pilot, Neil Peart recently toured China on a bicycle (sadly for him, his wife and child both died recently).
In fact, I’ll bet that the list of rock performers who do just fine (or as fine as any other group with that much public attention) is pretty long. You just hear a lot more from the wastoids.
rastahomie – thanks, honey. I HAVE the movie. I just didn’t know that it bombed so horribly. I love that movie! I think it’s hysterical! Oh, well, there’s no accounting for taste.
And my understanding is that Frank Zappa was EXTREMELY anti-drug. You’d get your ass kicked out of the band if you showed up drunk or high. Very cool, in my book.
I’ll second Rush. But didn’t Neil Peart cycle through parts of Africa ? He even wrote a book about (“aboot” ) it, “The Masked Rider”. Did he do China afterwards, or was this a mistake ?
