Thursday, January 18, 2007

just a theory...

So lately I've been working on a theory that solo mass stardom destroys a person. I'm talking mass, mass stardom (see the celebrities below). On the other hand, mass stardom in a group isn't as affecting, as none of the Beatles or Rolling Stones (excluding Brian Jones) have self-destructed.

Elvis:

Michael Jackson:
(Interesting to note, but in this above picture Michael Jackson has already had plastic surgery on his nose)
And the latest casualty, Britney Spear:

She's not pregnant in the above picture...right?

Of course that's not to say all very successful solo artist crash and burn (Madonna, for example, didn't) and not all bands are immune from massive self-destruction (Jim Morrison cleaned himself off pretty nicely). Just in general, you're safer from stardom if you're in a group, as is my humble notion.

9 comments:

holly said...

i agree with you, but there are some that will just go on and on forever without changing.
i can't judge on the Britney pregnant thing because i can't see the picture, gr!
i love your blog by the way
i've linked you

Anonymous said...

You might like Cintra Wilson's 'A Massive Swelling.' One of the chapters talks about how extreme fame basically destroys younger people. She somehow manages to be witty about it so it's not as depressing as I make it sound.

Ella Gregory said...

i agree. people become victims of their own sucsess. also i think the age people are when they become famous is the mental age they stay. michael jackson? young child, therefore wants to play in never never land. Britney spears? 16, therefore she wants to go out and get drunk every night.

Regina and Renee said...

thx for the comment. i dont plan on giving up anytime soon, i just get down sometimes. u have a cute blog. i wish i could see the pics tho, for some reason they dont show up for me!!!!

~exoh~
Renee

Tru said...

hmm intresting point, i think it can defiently destroy some ppl but not all...I mean Madonna's still pretty good and she was huge in the 80s, still is very popular today

holly said...

oh god, dumb jock indeed. very egotistical, my job? well... torturing kids sounds very appealing, and it's not too bad a pay, so i can't really argue with you!

Unknown said...

i'm not sure if it is solo atrists [hendrix[ more than others... brian jones, sid vicious. i'm not even sure if it's the fame that does it. i think some people kinf of .. transcend the world itself. they aren't ever living quite on the same plane as the rest of us - maybe they're always reaching for new heights in some kind of icarus fashion.

either way, fame defintely speeds up the process or perhaps just makes the fall more evident. it's something i think a lot off too. also a self destructive streak... joplin, syd barrett - maybe a realisation that they'll never be able to artculate what they mean, their brains are too complex to be understood or expressed in any earthly medium...?
i've always though that Lennon would have self destructed too had he not met Yoko and found someone who he could communicate with somehow. Oh, I don't know. i'm rambling, i'll shut up now.

Unknown said...

ha, my comment made no sense. i think what i meant is that the ones that tend to be in bands often to be the ones that feel as though they belong here, or as though they can be understood by others - their band mates for example.

also that the type of person whose likely to self destruct tends to be the type that wouldnt want to be in a band but a solo artist anyway.

plus, madonna and britney i dont think fall into this catagory quite... they both sung other peoples' words and songs and stories and probably never had much of their own to express anyway. and britney's fall seems only to be into drink because she never had the chance when younger. perhaps she'd have been like this whatever her fame status!

Gina

Geisha said...

I wish i could judge how Britney is pregnant or not, but I can't see the pictures either!! Anyways, she probably isn't, she just always looks pregnant. You also have to take in account all the pressure mega-watt stars go through that make them be how they are. Only the strong ones are those who stay normal and down-to-earth!