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Artists & singers who refuse to grow up and evolve

Artists & singers who refuse to grow up and evolve

 

Artists & singers who refuse to grow up and evolve
Artists & singers who refuse to grow up and evolve

Human Behavior Expert and Celebrity Life Coach Patrick Wanis, PhD, answers a reporter’s in-depth questions about Lady Gaga, Madonna and the social and artistic impact each one has had. This is Part 5: Artists who refuse to grow up and evolve

For Part 4: Why Madonna isn’t fascinating anymore click here: https://patrickwanis.com/blog/madonna-isnt-fascinating-anymore/

Patrick: The same thing applies to many artists that need to accept I’m not 21 anymore; I’m 51 and I can’t scream all the time “I can’t get no satisfaction.” So when Mick Jagger sings, “I can’t get no satisfaction,” it doesn’t make any sense, because when that song came out, it was about a teenager, a 21-year-old saying, ‘I’m frustrated but with life. I can’t get satisfaction. I go and do this. I go and have sex with a girl.’

Listen carefully to the lyrics because that’s what he sings. ‘I had sex with a girl but it’s her period, and then I do this and then I do that, and I’m just really frustrated in life and I have a lot of angst.’ That makes sense when you’re 21 or even maybe 31. But when you’re 50 and 60, you can’t sing that song. It’s like The Who trying to sing “My Generation” and singing the line, “I hope I die before I get old.” But now, he is an old man singing, “I hope I die before I get old.” It doesn’t make sense.

So the same thing applies with Steven Tyler. Steven Tyler wants to still look like he is 20 and 30. He is lucky because he still has that masculine energy and he still looks good as a rebel, but sometimes you have to accept that it’s time to move and evolve to a different level in life. So maybe you’re not going to be the rebellious rock and roll star. Maybe now you’re going to be a music producer; you’re going to be a mentor; you’re going to become a composer; you’re going to do something different.

You can’t always be Billy Idol. Billy Idol still looks the same, but does it make sense? Well, someone recently was able to get Billy Idol to agree to play for his birthday party next year, and that’s wonderful. But Billy Idol isn’t putting out new music and he is not screaming rebel yell in weddings because it’s not relevant anymore.

So just to summarize, Madonna has succeeded because she evolved. She had a message according to what was current, according to what was timely and what was relevant. She doesn’t have that anymore so now she is trying to find a way to stay relevant, making a comment about Obama and being black and a Muslim and a lot of those. But there comes a time in everyone’s life when they have to say, “I already made my impact. I did what I needed to because I had a message. Now let me do something different.”

I’ll also share this with you. Guy Laliberté who is the creator and the head guy of Cirque de Soleil always said that when he was watching artists perform, when he was auditioning artists, he would always look to see whether or not they have a message. In other words, do they have something to say? When the day comes that you, the artist, have nothing else new to say and have no new message, it’s time to do something different. Become a writer. Write a play. Do something different. It’s you, the artist.

Whether you’re a rock and roll artist, a hip-hop artist, a rap artist, a dancer, we have to accept in life that things change. They can’t always be the same. This is the problem with Western society where we are continually and constantly obsessed with being young and being youthful. That’s why we have adults reading Harry Potter. Well, they’re refusing to accept that it’s time to grow up; it’s time to evolve. You can’t be a single, young adolescent through your whole life.

Natalia: Okay. You mentioned before that Madonna, at first, she had a message and she was controversial because of her messages, and those messages would cause a social impact that was significant to what was current during those years.

Lady Gaga, she has established herself as somewhat of an outcast in her enormous fame and the whole works. She is like the mother of those who are marginalized, of those who are bullied or those who aren’t protected, and it is something very different to what Madonna used to do which was always very sexual and like trying to – how would you say this – trying to expose perhaps.

Patrick: You’re right. She is touching on different social issues.

She has talked about homosexuality, she has talked about transgender issues, and she has talked about bullying. So yes, you’re right. She has touched on other issues. But they haven’t really come up in her music. They’ve come up with her just talking about them. That’s very different. The message isn’t as big.

Click here for Part 6 of the interview – Why Lady Gaga hides behind masks and costumes https://patrickwanis.com/blog/lady-gaga-hides-behind-masks-costumes/

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