# Rock Artists of the 50s were really OLD in the 80s! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 26, 2011, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-artists-of-the-50s-were-really-old-in-the-80s/590334 "2011-07-26T00:49:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-artists-of-the-50s-were-really-old-in-the-80s/590334/1 "2011-07-26T00:49:13Z")
In the current Thread about [Roy Orbison](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=617623) we find this description of Roy’s later years: > [@Roy Orbison](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/roy-orbison/590231/5): > > I saw Roy here at the Austin Aqua Festival just few months before he died. > > He LOOKED absolutely ridiculous- he was fat and pushing 60, but was still dressing like a Fifties greaser. But I swear, his voice was at LEAST as good as it had ever been. He hit every note, and had me in tears a few times. I agree with how strongly his talent held up to the very end. I also agree that he was “fat and pushing 60”. Although, I would have said “fat and well beyond 60”. Thing is: He was 52 when he died. [Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbison) Also, in that Thread there is discussion, inspired by talk of the Traveling Wilburys, about the later day career efforts of Del Shannon. Del was 55 when he died. [Here he is, less than a year before his death, performing to an audience of fashion-challenged Australians.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gr9dVhFso70) Like Orbison, he gives a strong performance but comes off at least 10years older than he was (judging by _today’s_ standards- I’ve no doubt he looked great for a 55 year old in 1989). The All-Star _Hail! Hail! Rock ’ Roll_ celebration for Chuck Berry’s 60th birthday celebrated a great performer, but there’s an underlying sense that the celebrants were celebrating that he was still alive at all. Elvis Presley was about 60 when he died at age 42. Scary to think how he’d have appeared if he actually lived to 60. For Comparison: Susanna Hoffs and Bono: about the same age today that Orbison was when he died. So are Ice-T, Joan Jett, and Morrissey. All of them are _way_ younger as they start their 50s than their predecessors. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-artists-of-the-50s-were-really-old-in-the-80s/590334/2 "2011-07-26T01:28:33Z")
Well, we burned them out faster. Remember the [27 Club](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/27_Club) that Ms Winehouse just joined. You get to be twice that and you are OLD. **dropzone** , 57 and feeling it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-artists-of-the-50s-were-really-old-in-the-80s/590334/3 "2011-07-26T02:48:01Z")
“Clean livin’ prevailed.” - Bugs Bunny. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-artists-of-the-50s-were-really-old-in-the-80s/590334/4 "2011-07-26T03:05:50Z")
I think it was extremely tasteless of you to promise a Del Shannon video and then link to an ‘Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer’ skit. Seriously, tho, I think Del got ahold of some bad plastic surgery. Also, IIRC, Chuck Berry looked like crap, or worse, in early 70s. Best wishes, hh ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-artists-of-the-50s-were-really-old-in-the-80s/590334/5 "2011-07-26T04:21:49Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#): > > I think it was extremely tasteless of you to promise a Del Shannon video and then link to an ‘Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer’ skit. You inspired me to look up some “Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer” videos, a great character that I hadn’t thought of in years. Couldn’t find any! The internet has no “Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer” videos! That is sad and wrong! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-artists-of-the-50s-were-really-old-in-the-80s/590334/6 "2011-07-26T05:10:16Z")
He’s a [picture](http://www.kidrock.nl/News/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Jerry-Lee-Lewis-Kid-Rock.jpg) of Jerry Lee Lewis in 2010, when he was seventy-five. He’s looking pretty good for his age. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-artists-of-the-50s-were-really-old-in-the-80s/590334/7 "2011-07-26T05:32:50Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > fashion-challenged Australians. But you repeat yourself… ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-artists-of-the-50s-were-really-old-in-the-80s/590334/8 "2011-07-26T06:26:09Z")
I remember seeing Jerry Lee Lewis at Brendan Byrne arena in September 1984 with several other oldies acts (Chuck Berry was the main act, along with Duane Eddy and Junior Walker who kept getting booed by the New Jersey crowd everytime he said how ya doing doing New York). I said I was gonna see The Killer just in case he died quickly and shortly after the concert he had some kind of emergency surgery. For a while there, I thought my flippant remark would be accurate. But 27 years later, he is still around!! There are occasionally comments that out of all of Berry’s great songs, that it’s a shame that a puerile one like “My Ding-a-ling” is his only number one. While this is true, it is fun to have about 15,000 other people chant the lyrics in concert. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-artists-of-the-50s-were-really-old-in-the-80s/590334/9 "2011-07-26T08:17:16Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > He’s a [picture](http://www.kidrock.nl/News/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Jerry-Lee-Lewis-Kid-Rock.jpg) of Jerry Lee Lewis in 2010, when he was seventy-five. He’s looking pretty good for his age. Oh, for sure, Jerry Lee Lewis at age 75 looks good for a 75 year old. And it’s ok for him to look old now because he _is_ old now . . . . . . [but Jerry Lee Lewis at age 49 looked to be about 60](http://www.annmcgough.com/photos.php?photo=987&origin=%2Fphotos.php%3Fstart%3D21). Those who survived past their 50s eventually cleaned up a bit, but in the 80s these stars of the 50s were _way_ older than they should have been. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-artists-of-the-50s-were-really-old-in-the-80s/590334/10 "2011-07-26T11:43:54Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > I said I was gonna see The Killer just in case he died quickly and shortly after the concert he had some kind of emergency surgery. For a while there, I thought my flippant remark would be accurate. But 27 years later, he is still around!! Who would have ever thought he’d be the last living member of the [Million Dollar Quartet](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Million_Dollar_Quartet)? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-artists-of-the-50s-were-really-old-in-the-80s/590334/11 "2011-07-26T13:13:48Z")
Thank goodness '60s rock stars have [aged more gracefully](http://stereogum.com/img/keithrichards_alien.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-artists-of-the-50s-were-really-old-in-the-80s/590334/12 "2011-07-26T13:56:31Z")
[Dylan at 69](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bob_Dylan_-_Azkena_Rock_Festival_2010_2.jpg). He’s actually looked much worse in his life. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-artists-of-the-50s-were-really-old-in-the-80s/590334/13 "2011-07-26T14:01:33Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > [Dylan at 69](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bob_Dylan_-_Azkena_Rock_Festival_2010_2.jpg). He’s actually looked much worse in his life. I guess he’s past his [Vincent Price](http://www.clashmusic.com/files/imagecache/big_node_view/files/gallery/bobdylan-vincentprice.jpg) period. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-artists-of-the-50s-were-really-old-in-the-80s/590334/14 "2011-07-26T15:00:05Z")
Since the mid '60s, rockers have had a Keith Richards hidden away in the attic. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-artists-of-the-50s-were-really-old-in-the-80s/590334/15 "2011-07-26T15:15:29Z")
People, in general, are living longer and age doesn’t seem to catch up to a lot of us as quickly as it once did. I’m the same age as Carol O’Connor was at the height of All In The Family. I do not resemble Archie Bunker! ---
**Author:** ![No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea5d25/32.png) [@No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_umlaut_for_U)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-artists-of-the-50s-were-really-old-in-the-80s/590334/16 "2011-07-26T15:55:11Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > People, in general, are living longer and age doesn’t seem to catch up to a lot of us as quickly as it once did. I’m the same age as Carol O’Connor was at the height of All In The Family. > > I do not resemble Archie Bunker! Probably every one of the 50s rockers had had measles, mumps, chickenpox, German measles; most, if not all had inadequate dental care, and never saw a dermatologist in their teens (not that dermatology care in the fifties was all that great). Plus, smoking and exposure to 2° smoke was everywhere, and no one used sunscreen. And it wouldn’t surprise me how much speed was used. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-artists-of-the-50s-were-really-old-in-the-80s/590334/17 "2011-07-26T15:58:37Z")
In that respect and given the life he led, it’s funny how good Johnny Cash looked up until a few years before he died. Half of the shock of his video “Hurt” was seeing how old he looked suddenly. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-artists-of-the-50s-were-really-old-in-the-80s/590334/18 "2011-07-26T16:26:46Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > He’s a [picture](http://www.kidrock.nl/News/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Jerry-Lee-Lewis-Kid-Rock.jpg) of Jerry Lee Lewis in 2010, when he was seventy-five. He’s looking pretty good for his age. And here he is playing [Great Balls of Fire in 2009](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvg9jxNHd68) ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-artists-of-the-50s-were-really-old-in-the-80s/590334/19 "2011-07-26T16:32:07Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Since the mid '60s, rockers have had a Keith Richards hidden away in the attic. LOL… I have always said that I would have _paid_ to be in the crowd when they shot Cab Calloway doing Minne the Moocher for Blues Brothers. One of my favorite songs by one of my favorite performers. Although I was in heaven when the whole 25th ANNIVERSARY ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME CONCERT was available on demand on HBO documentaries. I must have watched it a hundred times, pretty much any time I wanted something on and there was no other program we were interested in. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2011, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-artists-of-the-50s-were-really-old-in-the-80s/590334/20 "2011-07-27T01:15:17Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > [Dylan at 69](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bob_Dylan_-_Azkena_Rock_Festival_2010_2.jpg). He’s actually looked much worse in his life. Don’t you mean ‘in life?’ Best wishes, hh [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-artists-of-the-50s-were-really-old-in-the-80s/590334.md?page=2)