I always joke around with my friend and drummer about rock stars, not just famous people who play rock music, but those special rock guys that have a stage presence which you immediately recognize as being the way a rock star should be.
Robert Plant is a great rock stage presence, KISS are all born Rock Stars.
But my vote undoubtedly goes to David Lee Roth. I think he sets the standard for what it means to be a rock star.
Oh, you’re not REALLY a “rock star” till you’ve been found dead in a pool of your own vomit! Jimi Hendrix! Jim Morrison! Janis Joplin! Keith Richards (several times, at last count)!
Who dies in their own vomit anymore? No one! Pantywaists, the lot of 'em.
Hmmm, does it fit the test? “General Mundane Pointless Questions I Must Debate?” Yep, off it goes to IMHO.
Even though we all know the best rock star persona has to be Syd Barrett.
You remember him, the founder and original sonwriter for Pink Floyd. Did a shitload of psychedelic drugs. Spent a few years in the nuthatch getting treated for a “nervous breakdown.” Now living a reclusive life as Roger Keith Barrett. Yep, that’s rock-n-roll, kids.
Gotta cast my vote for Steven Tyler. One look at that man and you know what he does. He’s got the looks, the attitude, the drug history, and that mouth…YOWZA!
Steven Tyler (my personal favorite) survives into the nineties.
They all have the requisite oddness that comes with stardom and marks the truly great among us . . .
But no one in the last decade could ever vanquish the one and only David Lee Roth, who takes it by virtue of sheer showmanship, shamelessness, and relish!