He died at age 94, and, IIRC, he was still playing his weekly gigs at the Iridium Jazz Club in New York City until very close to the end.
and i thought Carlos Santana was pushing the envelope at 71 this year.
Willie Nelson hits 86 on April 29, and is still going strong.
That’s why he was mentioned specifically in the OP as a benchmark and one other time already.
I saw him at the Iridium in 2002, when he was a mere lad of 87. He played less guitar than in the old days, but it was a great show nonetheless.
Paul Simon is still touring at 77.
Yes is still touring and pretty much all in their 70’s.
[url=]Not any more.
Loretta Lynn is 87 and released an album last year. I don’t think she’s touring any more - She broke her hip last year.
StG
Depending on which touring version of Yes one is referring to.
Until a few months ago, there were two separate factions of the band, both of which actively tour / toured:
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Under the moniker of Yes, there’s been a band featuring Steve Howe (age 72) and Alan White (a pup at 69), along with Geoffrey Downes (66), Billy Sherwood (54), and Jon Davison (47).
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A separate band, calling itself “Yes Featuring Jon Anderson, Trevor Rabin, Rick Wakeman” (also simply known as “Anderson Rabin Wakeman” or “ARW”) was active through the end of 2018, though they recently announced that they have no further plans to tour or record together. It featured Anderson (74), Rabin (64), and Wakeman (69), along with some session musicians.
If one is familiar with Yes and its history, the fact that there’s been two separate bands, both with ownership of the name “Yes,” both touring simultaneously, and with at least a bit of bad blood between the two groups, is not surprising in the least.
Leopold Stokowski conducted almost until his death at about age 100, and Billy Graham’s main singer, George Beverly Shea, sang at rallies until Graham could no longer preach himself.
This is his best-known song.
My parents saw Engelbert Humperdinck a few years ago. He’s in his 80s.
Duke Fakir of the Four Tops is 83 and Otis Williams of the Temptations is 77 and they’re still touring with their groups.
She performed live on stage last week for her birthday, but she was not looking well. However, as everyone on stage sang “Coal Miner’s Daughter” to her, she said, “Let me have that damn mic.” and started to sing lead.
StG
As Thudlow Boink noted (though his link is broken), Simon had announced that his tour last year would be his last. That said, he appeared on Stephen Colbert’s show tonight, performing “That Was Your Mother” with Colbert’s band.
Arthur Rubenstein played well into his 90’s. My wife, who knows much more than I about these things, said his technique was better at that advanced age than when he wad a young man.
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The Blind Boys of Alabama began in 1939 and had at least one founding member, Jimmy Fountain, until last year. Jimmy Carter is called a founding member on their website, but WIKI says otherwise. Still, they have to be contenders.
The Oak Ridge Boys are a continuation of a gospel quartet that began in the 40s, and some of the current members have been in it since the 60s (Duane Allen since 1966).
The Rolling Stones are still touring, aren’t they?
Yes, and they’re mentioned in the first line of the original post of this thread.
It’s interesting to consider why these older artists continue to tour/perform. For many mentioned so far I think it is that they love to do what they’re doing.
I had the pleasure of meeting and hanging out with Son Seals when he performed in Pittsburgh at the advanced age of 61 (my current age). He could have passed for 85 and was dead a year later. He was touring because he was broke. He was playing small clubs for however much money he could get.
From Wikipedia:
“You’ve got to suffer if you want to sing the blues.”
–David Bromberg
John Prine, Leo Kottke and Steve Winwood, in their 70s, still tour.
Cher…72…will be touring Europe this Fall