The (badly) aging metaler

[AaronVonRock]

Plenty of metal bands who are well into middle age still look ok, the guys in Anthrax and Metallica come to mind. They've kept themselves fairly fit, cut back on drugs and booze, and cut their hair short when they started going bald. That last one is pretty key to not looking ridiculous.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

Chuck Billy is a pretty big boy, but I sure as hell wouldn't call him "fat", especially not to his face.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

cut back on drugs and booze, and cut their hair short when they started going bald. That last one is pretty key to not looking ridiculous.

I cut WAY back on the booze & that's when I got fat.
I also realized that my hair was just as full as it was when I was younger, so just stopped cutting it.

 

[Space Pickle]

Plenty of metal bands who are well into middle age still look ok, the guys in Anthrax and Metallica come to mind. They've kept themselves fairly fit, cut back on drugs and booze, and cut their hair short when they started going bald. That last one is pretty key to not looking ridiculous.

Yeah, nothing looks stupider than a balding guy with a halo of long hair down to his shoulders (or more).

Like, I can appreciate that losing your hair is a sore spot for many of us men, but at some point you have to gracefully accept aging.

 

[hintz]

The guys in Iron Maiden are from my parents generation and they are still in great shape and still kicking ass onstage, they are also health nuts though and they seem to be an exception rather than the rule...

Either way, I don't think of age as a factor if the band can still deliver live, and if Steve Harris and Dickinson were fat and balding id *still* pay money to see them as long as they still sound great

 

[Killed_by_Death]

Bald on top & a pony tail in the back. They're all over Pattaya Thailand.

 

[hintz]

Another example is Slayer...Tom Araya had neck surgery from years of head banging, Kerry just looks fat and Jeff Hanneman is no longer with us(RIP), these guys haven't taken care of themselves, but they are still out there touring...

Nobody can do that game forever, but I'm guessing they still enjoy it..its not like some of these bands made a ton of money like mainstream acts, even so Im guessing some of the bigger underground acts can hang it up and live in comfort off of record/merch sales but they choose to go out and bring it to the fans, nothing wrong with this

 

[hintz]

Bald on top & a pony tail in the back. They're all over Pattaya Thailand.

That's called the "skullet" where im from LOL, fortunately a shaved head is cool nowadays

 

[Kmonk]

In all honesty, I don't think anybody has the right to decide when someone else should stop. If people enjoy playing, there is no reason why they should stop. Should Rob Halford stop? Should AC/DC stop? The problem I have is with people who try to dress "the look" of a rock star when they can't really play very well. Its actually sad and comical at the same time. Most of the best musicians I have ever heard look and dress like normal working class people.

 

[fretter]

Socially conscious lyrics never go out of style. Neither do good melodies and party music. The only thing that metal jettisoned with the 80s was the obsession with image. Today, you can wear a sweater and play metal. I think that's cool.

 

[Rogatien022]

2 weeks ago I went to the Motley Crue "farewell" tour here in Montreal. I'm not a huge Crue fan but hey, once in my life I had to be at one of their shows. Not bad for guys that lived like there was no tomorrow for a couple of years. Vince Neil had gained a couple of pounds, nothing to write home about. The guys were good on stage, rockin' and pounding theirs instruments. But the opening act was Alice Cooper, first time I was witnessing his "act"... The guy is 67 yrs old, his show was perfect: every gimmick was there, theatrical stuff at his best. And his singing was spot on, perfect. I got impressed.

I guess what I'm saying is not all aging rockers look or sound like idiots on stage. A couple of years ago I was the Beacon Theatre in NYC for Bonamassa (there's a bluray of that show, november 2011), there were 3 guests during that night: John Hiatt, Beth Hart and Paul Rodgers. When it was Rodgers turn, man did he blow the roof away, what an awesome voice. He probably was 61 at the time...

 

[ole Jason]

OP's view of "metal" is very narrow. In the black metal world it isn't uncommon for one/two man bands to never perform live or even release pictures of themselves. No one cares what you look like unless you do something strange vying for attention. Black metal obviously has its fair share of trends and, of course, has an oft-mocked image to accompany the genre but none of that is a requisite to being successful nowadays. Age is also irrelevant when you aren't showing your face. If anything older guys tend to command more respect in the genre than 20 somethings.

 

[Josh Thatguy]

As far as Lemmy goes... I think he might've done his final walk off, stage left, Tuesday night in Austin. Truly a sad moment for me to see. Half a verse of Metropolis, lagging tempo on the Ric, then stopping midverse and slowly walking off. He came back with a cane a few minutes later, whispered/gasping he was sorry, limped off stage, and that was that.

Sorry to hijack the thread for a moment. Seeing bdwgml's avatar is tugging at my heart strings right now.

 

[Rocker949]

As far as Lemmy goes... I think he might've done his final walk off, stage left, Tuesday night in Austin. Truly a sad moment for me to see. Half a verse of Metropolis, lagging tempo on the Ric, then stopping midverse and slowly walking off. He came back with a cane a few minutes later, whispering/gasping he was sorry, and that was that.

Sorry to hijack the thread for a moment. Seeing bdwgml's avatar is tugging at my heart strings right now.

Just reading the article about it was sad, too. They did leave some hope at the end. But I wasn't there. It sounds like it may have been worse than the article indicated.

 

[hintz]

As far as Lemmy goes... I think he might've done his final walk off, stage left, Tuesday night in Austin. Truly a sad moment for me to see. Half a verse of Metropolis, lagging tempo on the Ric, then stopping midverse and slowly walking off. He came back with a cane a few minutes later, whispering/gasping he was sorry, and that was that.

Sorry to hijack the thread for a moment. Seeing bdwgml's avatar is tugging at my heart strings right now.

Oh man, that'd be rough to witness!! I saw them with Anthrax years ago and motorhead killed it, I briefly met lemmy, a true class act

 

[Josh Thatguy]

I haven't seen an article, and I'm not sure I want to. All I know is that seeing him like that reminded me of the last time I saw my Dad in May of last year, standing up in the den of the old house i grew up in and trying to fool me that cancer wasn't winning after 5 years. He was dead by the middle of June.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

I wonder how old Rob Zombie will be before he stops wearing leather everywhere.

 

[Doner Designs]

I love seeing the guys from the 70's performing, but think they look better if they clean up a bit and act their age (as most have) - I'm one of the guys who thinks Geddy should get a haircut.

 

[Josh Thatguy]

My sincerest apologies for bumming anyone out. Perhaps my afternoon Labor Day beers and their chemical depressant component arwnt helping my sudden melancholia after seeing that avatar of Lemmy in better days.
I'll shut up now and exit the thread.

 

[Rocker949]

Lemmy is recovering from a lung infection. I'd say the chances are good antibiotics will completely clear that up. I just read that, btw.