Please Deliver Us from the Faceless Rock Star
There was a time when rock stars were recognizable. Jagger. Plant. Roth. Bruce. Bono. Cobain. You could see them coming from a mile away. Two miles.
Today, though, the world is awash in big-selling bands that are completely faceless. If someone from Imagine Dragons–the band with the third highest-selling album in Canada in 2013–walked past you, would you notice? What does anyone in Of Monsters and Men look like? Can you name a Lumineer?
Maybe I just haven’t been paying attention. Or am I right? John forwards this article from Esquire on the subject:
Until it became too obvious, Kenny Chesney would have roadies smuggle him through the audience in a road case. This way he could start the show from the crowd and then fly onto the stage. Dan Reynolds is playing many of the same arenas right now, only he could probably escort himself to the third row undetected, share a beer or three with the guy sitting next to him, and start the show from there.Dan Reynolds is the frontman for Imagine Dragons, and as hard as it might be to wrap your head around the fact that Imagine Dragons are playing arenas, ponder this: Imagine Dragons have sold more than a million records, scored three radio hits, and spent 66 weeks on the charts. And this is probably the first time you’ve heard Dan Reynolds’s name. His band will play 22 arena dates in February and March, venues accustomed to hosting Elton, Prince, Bruce—one-name entities, not no-name entities. It’s time to ask if rock stars who can hide in plain sight are really rock stars.
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