There seems to be an attitude that 50 is too old for musicians.

I think that being older can actually equate to being cooler.


I think this is a really sad attitude. While in my early 20's the coolest people i met were muscians in their 60's. Their music was great and people would go over to this one guys house in the country, sit around drinking wine while all these old guys jammed.

The coolest person I've ever met was a woman who was 68 I think when I met her. She was so wickedly funny and had an incredible ability to understand people. Within 5 mins of meeting her you would have this sense that she knew you and you would want to be her best friend. She was not some sweet old lady either... this woman was a renegade. She would tell the most outrageous lies (which is why I'm not sure of her age, because she would tell people she was older than she was lol)
When she was in her 50's someone gave her a motorbike for her birthday which she drove into a pool on the same night.

I could go on, but it's hard to express all the reasons she was so awesome and how everyone who met her was won over.

What cool people over 50 do you know?

My mum is also waaay cool, but veryone thinks that about their mum, so I don't think that can count.

old will always be 15 years older than I am. Relativity baby.

No age is too old to be cool.

Unless by cool you mean 'hip'.

Then I'd say after 30, you're treading very dangerous waters when trying to stay hip. It can look rather desperate. Look at half my haircuts. Embarrassing.

Imago said:

lol.. like a woman I know who gets her hair dyed in all these different colours, and keeps inviting people over to have hot tub parties

no I'm talking about cool... Surely it is a quality that you either have or have not got.. I wouldn't think that it goes anywhere

yes...




after 50, I think you're considered more nifty than cool...

Imago said:

Pretty much everyone I know. If they aren't over 50, they're close.

I had lunch with a very cool person today - my grandma. She's 91.

what Grandpa Dan said...

is this about madonna?















YES, she is too damn OLD to be COOL

Speaking as someone only a few years shy of 50 I'd have to agree that true cool, (like me, ) never fades.

robinesque said:

50 is too old to be somebody else's version of cool. Hopefully by the age of 30 we've found what works for us and by 50 we've fine-tuned it.

I think by the time we're 50, we really don't care if we're cool or not.

How cool is that?

horatio said:

not too old to be HOT though

ok...
let me refine the definition to people over 50 that teenagers think are cool

what i am trying to understand is why people might think that teenagers can relate to or appreciate people over the age of 50.

If someone can be cool over the age of 50, why can't they produce music that sells?

pearle said:

And there you have it!

I hope not, I'm 55

my best friend is turning 70 soon. She wants us to get tattoos together.
And I am under 40....

robinesque said:

That's why I'm glad I play jazz, classical and world music. Don't really have the age bias in those genres.

NuPwr319 said:

ahhh, maybe that is why I have nevered suffered from age bias

robinesque said:

At 50, musician or otherwise, unless they live in the house (and even then) who cares what a teenager thinks? They know nothing.
You aren't making music for teenagers at 50, it's probably more for yourself.
If someone digs it great. But I find it hard to believe that I would be writing something aimed at a teenage audience at 50.

Dayclear said:

Lord willing, I'll be 55 this November.

And how old do you think this cool MF is?

I'll let you know in 6 months.

you can be cool @ any age!

Gimmesomehorns said:

actually, that is my point

Prince is definately a cool MF... he doesn't need to try and be cool or relate to young people... he just will, cause his cool and talented and will continue make great music.

I've read comments that suggest that we shouldn't expect cutting edge music, or music that will produce hits because he is 50 now.. I'm like HELL when did 50 become the new 90?

all the comments that people have posted support my idea, that as you become older, you actually get cooler, because you get to a point where you don't care. add that to the fact that you are more experienced in life and music.. and the music whould get better, shouldn't it. the only thing that i can see that would prevent this would be the pressure to produce a 'hit'... thus.. I have high expectations for Prince's future musical output and i will not apologise for it (i refer to someone telling me that my expectations were unrealistic)

Tom Waits (my other musical love) I think has been able to consistently produce incredible albums throughout his career, because he was never a pop artist to begin with and so never felt the pressure to do anything other than what he happened to feel like doing (at least for the last 20 years.. may have been labelled a blues man early on).

Gimmesomehorns said:

Prince ain't cool


And trampsing around with twins at each side, wearing the same caked on makeup he did in his 20's to look younger, doesn't help either. Prince is still building a mystery for himself with a supposed mystique that has long ago lost it's luster. Where other artists have become more open and more honest with their music as they aged, Prince still claims that if he stops counting he'll live as long as a tree, or that NATO and OTAN and digital gardens somehow amount to a hill of beans to the hard working folks who save up money to see his concerts of truncated greatests hits.

It's a wonder Trent Reznor keeps getting sexier while Prince gets more irrelevant.

Prince ain't cool.

Imago said:

Word!

He's starting to suffer from crotchety-old-man syndrome!

RenHoek said:

double word!

If it's cool to dress like a golden girl and sue your fans, than sure--Prince is cool!

i can think of several people who stayed cool after they became old farts. my favorites:






[Edited 8/18/08 9:10am]