Rock of ages: 2024 was a banner year for music by artists in their 20s, 80s and beyond
Can Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan have the career longevity of Smokey Robinson, Patti LaBelle, the Rolling Stones and 91-year-old Willie Nelson? Time will tell.
No matter the style, the music world has long been bookended by rising young artists and seasoned veterans alike, wannabes and legends, chart-toppers, cult acts and the journeymen and women in between. Even so, it’s difficult to recall another year in which a new generation of performers and a long-established group of veteran acts each had such a formidable impact.
At one end are such breakout stars as Chappell Roan, 26, pop vixen Sabrina Carpenter, Icelandic retro-jazz singer Laufey, MJ Lenderman and rapper GloRilla, who are all 25; TikTok sensation Tommy Richman and country upstart Dasha, both 24; South African songstress Tyla and Washington-born singer-songwriter Benson Boone, both 22; Mexico’s Angela Aguilar, 20; Jessie Murph, 19; and Mason Ramsey, 17.
The list also includes four young all-female acts: English baroque-pop band The Dinner Party (whose members are in their mid-20s); English R&B throwback vocal trio Flo (whose members are 21 and 22); South Korean K-pop sensations NewJeans (whose four members range in age from 16 to 20); and the Los Angeles garage-rock band The Linda Lindas (whose members range in age from 13 to 19 and opened Green Day’s September San Diego concert at Petco Park).
At the other end of the spectrum are the still-active veterans who are old enough to be the great-grandparents of Roan, Carpenter, Tyla, et al. They include the senior members of such storied bands as the Rolling Stones, Eagles, Deep Purple, Chicago and Kool & The Gang, and such enduring solo artists as Smokey Robinson, Mavis Staples and Steve Miller.
In between is the indomitable Beyoncé, 43. The powerhouse vocal superstar did not tour this year, but she generated much conversation — and some controversy — with her chart-topping, shape-shifting 2024 album, “Carter Country.”
It earned a field-leading 11 Grammy Award nominations last month, including for Album of the Year, Best Country Album and Best Melodic Rap Performance. To cap things off, Billboard magazine last week named Beyonce the “Greatest Pop Star of the 21st Century,” followed closely by Taylor Swift.
As for those artists who did tour in 2024, the headline-commanding Swift (who turns 35 today) and Coldplay (whose members are in their mid- to late-40s) had two of the highest-grossing concert treks of the year. (Swift’s record-breaking year will be examined in more depth in the Dec. 21 Sunday Arts & Entertainment section of the Union-Tribune.)
But it remains to be seen if Switf, Coldplay — or any of the new crop of young pop stars behind them — will still be hitting the road and delivering memorable performances when are well past retirement age.
This in turn begs the question: In a cookie-cutter music world where longevity has long been the exception not the rule, when is that retirement age?
Or, as the now 62-year-old Jon Bon Jovi commented about the Rolling Stones in a 2020 Union-Tribune interview: “I wish they’d retire for one reason: At least then, I’d know where the end zone is! They are still an amazing live band.”
His assessment was reaffirmed by the Stones’ rousing July 10 concert this year at SoFi Stadium in Los Angles, the 17th show on its 20-date North American tour. The legendary English band performed with impressive power and unmistakable conviction throughout its two-hour, 20-song concert.
The fact that the Stones’ co-founders, singer Mick Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards, are both now in their early 80s is impressive and, frankly, astounding.
For many musicians and fans who came of age in the 1960s — a decade when almost anyone over 30 was regarded with suspicion or dismissed as washed-up — it is almost unthinkable that some of the most respected performers from that era are still some of the most respected performers today.
Their ranks include the aforementioned Miller, 80, Robinson, 84, and Staples, 85, all of whom performed in or near San Diego this year. So did Patti LaBelle and Roger Daltrey. who are both 80; Bob Dylan and Dionne Warwick, both 83; and Ringo Starr and Tom Jones, both 84; and others, followed by scores of actively touring artists who are in their 70s, 60s and 50s.
Paul McCartney, Starr’s former bandmate in The Beatles, spent much of this fall performing stadium concerts across South America, followed by a European arena tour that concludes Dec. 19. Speculation has been mounting that McCartney, 82, will mount his next North American tour in 2025.
If he does, he’ll still need to continue touring and recording for another 10 years to surpass where Willie Nelson is today.
The grizzled American music icon, who turned 91 in April, this year released the 152nd and 153rd albums of his career: “The Border” and “Last Leaf on the Tree.” He toured constantly, headlining an April 22 San Diego concert at The Shell and returning in July with his Outlaw Music Festival tour, which also featured Dylan and John Mellencamp.
Nelson has already announced concerts for February and beyond. His classic 1980 song, “On The Road Again,” still encapsulates his way of life today. Nelson was 47 when he wrote and recorded it. He’s nearly twice that age now. Today’s young stars have a lot to live up to.
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