When your core appeal is based around teenage angst and the shoegazing, it's a bit hard to tap into it when you're say.....41 with a few kids of your own.
Artists grow out of their appeal in different ways. For a child or teen star, this can be a transitionary period we watch with bated breath just waiting for the car crash, the chaos and the outrageous behaviour we love to condemn. An older artist, or indeed a band, who appeals largely to teenagers and younger people may try to resist this transitionary period altogether, attempting to sustain the same sound or image that gained them their popularity in the first place; but often they find themselves struggling to cling to the limelight when commercial tastes change, or their initial fanbase grows up and loses interest. Then there are the artists who may have grown out of their appeal some time ago, but linger in our consciousness, gaining undeserved press attention purely due to their ridiculous antics. Former Oasis star Liam Gallagher and all-around-brat Justin Bieber are prime examples of this, seeming to think an outright refusal to grow up even a smidgen is somehow endearing. Gallagher even praised Bieber's antics last year, stating that 'anyone who goes on two hours late is f**king right in my book, man.' Not sure the fans would agree there Liam. In other cases, things take a more tragic turn. For Judy Garland and Lena Zavaroni, growing up was the exact thing that had a detrimental effect on their careers, and in turn, their lives. Garland's career survived, albeit with a number of turbulent moments and several periods of reinvention; but the residue of that initial change and the harm that it brought to her, both professionally and personally, would remain with her forever. It also doesn't help that the entertainment industry is not kind about age. We've all heard about the record executive who won't sign a band or artist unless they're under 20 years old, or the child actor who stopped getting offered parts as soon as they reached puberty. Here are ten examples of bands or artists who, for better or worse, simply grew out of their appeal.
Stephanie is a writer and free spirit who likes to pretend she's a Londoner, though strictly speaking she's from Watford. She likes books, music, elephants, and hairspray.
