Cobain certainly qualifies on substance abuse. He had a serious heroin problem, and did everything else, too, until it drove him to suicide. He married Courtney Love, too- not attractive enough for you?
Charlie couldn’t be cooler even if he’d played drums for The Velvet Underground and Charles Mingus’s band and just filled in for the Stones and “Hello Charlie, Sun have asked you to help out with Elvis guy!”. But he isn’t a rock star - he’s a cool dude nonetheless.
Easily Mick Jagger or Freddy Mercury, given the criteria and the list. Springsteen is too far from the typical rock star mold, sort of in a category in his own, as is Bowie. I mean, is Bowie really a ‘rock star’? If he is, then so is Brian Ferry and Ferry outclasses him in most of the criteria. And yeah, Daltrey wrote like three songs for the Who, none of them big hits.
Elvis wasn’t rock star cool. Maybe when he was younger, but the movies and then the Vegas schmaltz cancelled his cool card.
You need to remove Roger Daltry and replace him with Pete Townshend, so that I can vote. Townshend fits more of these criteria than Daltry does for The Who anyway.
No Robert Plant? Interesting.
I suggested Pete earlier, but people don’t seem to think he’s the same league as the other big names.
Which is rather odd, considering his resume: accomplished songwriter with a decent solo career, one of the godfathers of punk, wrote one of the earliest and most successful rock operas, dynamic performer and guitar smasher extraordinaire, pioneered the use of synthesizers, on the bill at most of the legendary mega-concerts, survived partying with Keith Moon…
By that definition, Tommy Lee wins hands down.
No way. Keith Moon was the true rock star in The Who.
A big part of what was so great about The Who was that, although they had a front man who was talented, handsome, and really quite flamboyant, he was totally upstaged not only by the nerdy guitarist, but also by the freakin’ drummer!
I propose that you left one off: Todd Rundgren. Bear with me and we’ll work through the criteria:
I don’t think anyone will have a serious objection on that count. Todd played all the instruments on many of his albums and is a bona fide “guitar hero”.
Todd is only known for his own songs, and has written many songs that have been hits for other artists.
No opinion. At 62, he does still have screaming female fans.
Top this. Has Springstein ever done a guitar solo on top of a pyramid, concluding the solo with a backflip down to the stage?
How to define this? Songs so recognizable that they are used in TV commercials? Yes indeed.
Recognized by academia and given a professorship? Yes.
But Todd’s legacy goes far beyond just being a “rock star”. As a producer, he created some of the best-selling songs and albums of the rock era. As one critic pointed out, he bought the New York Dolls their first tube of mascara and saved XTC’s career.
His work in computers is a whole second career, writing one of the first commercially available paint programs and creating his own computer animated music videos.
Todd tried to have a band experience with Utopia, but the record company kept ignoring their albums in favor of Todd’s own.
Everyone can name at least one Todd Rundgren song. His group of fans is smaller these days, but he was ubiquitous in the 1970s. And though the masses and radio seem to have decided that he belongs in one particular box, he has never stopped innovating musically, recording new music in different styles and touring regularly.
I am in that photo. In the mass of seated people (seated in actual seats, not sitting on the floor), there is one short haired woman wearing a very white blouse who stands out. That’s my mother and I am seated directly at her left.
Slightly larger version. I have a black sweater and mustache.
I’ma have to say, the original rock and roll animal - Lou Reed.
That is what a rock star is.
Nope, according to the Plaster Caster, he fucked the mold. He also gets my vote.
"1. Must have genuine musical talent. No one who is all hype. "
Would disqualify Morrison and Tyler and Roth. Morrison singlehandedly proves that one does not need to have any musical talent whatsoever in order to be a rock star, and, in defiance of the legacy of the Big Bopper, that such fame can be maintained for a long, long time.
“2. Must have written a significant portion of the greatest music they are known for.”
Would disqualify Daltry. Townshend was obviously the writing force in that band. I’m not seeing Daltry’s name on any singles of consequence.
“3. Must have vast quantities of sex appeal.”
Would disqualify Jackson, Ozzy, and Van Halen. Ozzy’s always been kind of schlubby. Van Halen looks like a douchebag to me, and I’ve never heard anyone talk about him except in terms of his chops.
“4. Must have great showmanship.”
Would probably disqualify Ozzy, again. There are always literal fireworks, but Ozzy himself spent most of his time in Sabbath shuffling around the stage while Iommi banged out long solos. Also Sting.
“5. Must have a lasting legacy.”
Would disqualify Rose. GNR’s legacy is “the last of the hair bands” or “that band that took forever to record that album nobody liked.” I suspect Slash is the more revered fogure from that group now, and that’s not saying much.
"6. Doesn’t have to be a solo artist, but must be so distinct from the band that they might as well be. "
Would disqualify Daltry. “Roger Daltry??” “He was the lead singer for the Who.” “Oh.”
"7. Can’t be some obscure but intensely worshipped figure like Morrissey or something, because that’s not a rock star. "
Yeah it is. Would disqualify Sting. And probably Berry, sad to say. Are there people today purchasing Berry’s latest hits collection in similar numbers to those purchasing Elvis’s?
A further criterion should have been: Is not boring. That would disqualify Springsteen, Bono, and Sting again.
Madonna does not play rock music and never has. Disqualified. Jackson too.
Leaves four. I don’t think I’ve ever, ever, considered Mercury as a big rock star until I saw this poll. Queen were an also-ran, and last I heard they were doing reunion tours without him.
Three. Lennon perfected the formula by which one could remain a rock star without actually rocking, or doing much of anything.
Two. Bowie’s persona(e) probably puts off as many people as it takes in. He’s the world’s biggest cult artist.
One. Jagger looks like a no-talent, sexless has-been compared to Elvis and Hendrix. I guess they’re both lucky to be dead.
So Hendrix I guess.
Others:
Bob Dylan (all Hendrix ever wanted to do was be Dylan)
Rod Stewart (shudder - I can’t stand him personally, but he fits the criteria)
Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, but especially Paul (all of the Beatles were and are big stars in their own right, even if Paul is the only one to have maintained that consistently)
Tom Petty (I guess he has his moments)
Van Morrison?
Kurt Cobain
Lou Reed (I still hear “Walk on the Wild Side” on classic rock radio regularly, so his name is out there, his music is sexy even if he isn’t, and his legacy contains virtually all modern rock music of any consequence. Not bad.)
Michael certainly didn’t have sex appeal in his later years but remember that he did start out in a 1970s boy band - right up until about the late eighties he certainly had “vast quantities of sex appeal”, as did all his brothers, at least according to legions of screaming females.
Madonna doesn’t play rock music, no, but she does do “rock versions” of some of her songs in concert - ‘Hung Up’ and ‘Ray Of Light’ - and plays electric guitar on them. Whether these versions are any good (I’ll be the first to stand up and say they are not her best work) is up to the listener but bad rock is still rock.
Michael did ‘Beat It’, ‘Dirty Diana’, ‘Give In To Me’ and ‘DS’, four songs that, if they were sung by an act known for rock music, would never be questioned as anything but rock songs. The first had Eddie Van Halen on guitar, the second Steve Stevens and the last two featured Slash. No, it wasn’t his main genre but he was one of those artists who didn’t stick to the same sound for every song.
As I said earlier in the thread including the pair may not be right in a poll like this and maybe they weren’t rock stars but your assessments aren’t quite true.
I have never considered Michael Jackson anything other than Motown R&B.
He greatly broke out of that genre post-Jackson 5, into disco, modern R&B, new-jack swing, straight-up pop, MOR balladry, rock, house, urban, even some songs influenced by industrial rock.
Check out this quote from the Wikipedia page for Blood On The Dance Floor:
Even his most famous and well-known albums (Off The Wall, Thriller, Bad, Dangerous) could never be called Motown R&B.
Rock and blues…never did he strictly rock. He had too much soul… he rocked and rolled.
Now here’s the question…“Who rocked , Mike or Chuck?” Within motown, who rocked harder… MJ or CB?
Chuck Berry? He wasn’t a Motown artist, he made his classic recordings for Chess.