I was never one to give Harry Styles much thought. In his heydey I always felt he had an appeal that only a teenaged girl could appreciate.

Then he released the single "Sign of the Times" and I was moved.

https://www.youtube.com/w...N4ooNx77u0

Then I saw him perform "Two Ghosts" on James Corden and I thought ok, there is something here.

https://www.youtube.com/w...EiZu7xeZ4A

Then "Fine Line" came out and I was impressed with every single that was released. Finally just recently I gave the album a full listen and I'm coming dangerously close to becoming a fan.

I mean forget The Weeknd, Harry Styles was criminally under represented at this years grammys.

So lets check the boxes: Presence Career defining album Gender bending mystique (though this last one is presented a little TOO on the nose for me. So 2020).

So I think we might finally have our musical STAR for this generation.

And I hope he wins every grammy he's nominated for!

I think it's BTS

onlyforaminute said:

It's all like watching tv now. There are so many channels and formats to choose from you're not going to get that solitary "star" like days of old. Yet they are making more money than their earlier counterparts so why worry about it.

There's never really been a time when there was only one star. When The Beatles were popular in the 1960s, so were The Supremes. When Led Zeppelin was popular in the 1970s, so was Pink Floyd, Boston, Stevie Wonder, & Elton John.

MickyDolenz said:

Yeah my point is that they finally have someone who stands out as something special.

The only thing distinguishable about those BTS guys is their hair color.

They sound like every other K-pop group.

Before this I'd say Lana Del Rey and I still think she's the female standout but I get it she's kinda niche because of her edge.

And I'm trying very hard not to mention Taylor Swift.

[Edited 12/29/20 12:04pm]

alphastreet said:

Maybe the weeknd

Maybe.

I like him too but I think Styles got robbed more than The Weeknd.

I saw his videos for his latest project.

Dark, disturbing stuff.

For such fizzy, bubbly music this is where his head's at?

CynicKill said:

The only thing distinguishable about those BTS guys is their hair color.

What does that have to do with being a star or being popular? What is so different about Michael Bolton, Richard Marx, or Celine Dion music or their images that make them stick out? Nothing much, yet they were stars in their day. Hip hop is the #1 genre in the USA, so that's where a lot of current stars come from.

CynicKill said:

MickyDolenz said:

CynicKill said:

The only thing distinguishable about those BTS guys is their hair color.

What does that have to do with being a star or being popular? What is so different about Michael Bolton, Richard Marx, or Celine Dion music or their images that make them stick out? Nothing much, yet they were stars in their day. Hip hop is the #1 genre in the USA, so that's where a lot of current stars come from.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see where this all goes.

Yes they are very popular right now, probably THE most popular.

But they're still a boy band. And I'm gonna be a little presumptuous right now and declare that they're still in the boy band ghetto. Like Harry Styles was.

I feel he's evolved from that into something a wider audience can enjoy.

He's becoming a style icon and is mentioned a lot more generally, not just sales.

And I could be wrong too. Just some things I've observed.

MickyDolenz said:

onlyforaminute said:

It's all like watching tv now. There are so many channels and formats to choose from you're not going to get that solitary "star" like days of old. Yet they are making more money than their earlier counterparts so why worry about it.

There's never really been a time when there was only one star. When The Beatles were popular in the 1960s, so were The Supremes. When Led Zeppelin was popular in the 1970s, so was Pink Floyd, Boston, Stevie Wonder, & Elton John.

I think there've consistently been constellations of stars in each decade, with one maybe two shining brighter than the others.

IMO, n the 50's it was Elvis, 60's the Beatles, 70's Stevie Wonder, and 80's MJ.

CynicKill said:

He's becoming a style icon and is mentioned a lot more generally, not just sales.

And I could be wrong too. Just some things I've observed.

I wonder why that is, when others have been doing what he's doing before him

MickyDolenz said:

I wonder why that is, when others have been doing what he's doing before him

If you're going to mention Billy Porter in that tuxedodress, then you have to go futher back to Hector Xtravaganza from the House of Xtravaganza who did it way before others.




And being stylish isn't a new concept. Dietrich and Garbo were dressing like men long ago. Milton Berle did drag in the first days of television itself. Martin Lawrence, Eddie Murphy, Tyler Perry, Flip Wilson did drag. Elton John for fuck's sake!

I like Harry Styles now. He came out of the gate as a solo artist sorta like ... meh. But then he really turned it up, put out some great music, and got down with his styling. I love it. Is he the star? No. I think we're past those days. But he is a mover and shaker. The Weeknd is, too, and still underappreciated by the larger public, despite his success thus far.

MickyDolenz said:

CynicKill said:

He's becoming a style icon and is mentioned a lot more generally, not just sales.

And I could be wrong too. Just some things I've observed.

I wonder why that is, when others have been doing what he's doing before him

No arguements here.

But if you look at my OP, my interest is driven by the music, which to me is the foundation on which everything else stands.

The style thing and the general interest thing is all part of the package if you're doing it right.

onlyforaminute said:

I still think everything is more niche within niches. The niches are just pretty huge these days. Bruno was big there for a minute. I'm not sure what happened to him. Childish Gambino hot for a minute but it's been crickets. I thought it was supposed to be Cardi B but she seems to be becoming more just contoversial drama who knows. I remember there was some big news about Taylor Swift but I forgot what. She sales a lot though.

Drake has been really popular for years now. He has more chart entries on the Hot 100 than anyone else and recently passed up Aretha Franklin & Stevie Wonder in having the most #1's on the R&B/Hip Hop chart. I know today's audience has a short attention span, but it's not like they're Sade or something who puts out a record every 10 years. Bruno had a popular duet in 2019 with Cardi B (Please Me). Gambino is also an actor who played Simba in an obscure movie called The Lion King.

In terms of music it depends the years we are talking about or if it's sales or media coverage. I mean there are artists that get coverage but it doesn't translate to selling numbers. But over the last decade or so it's Taylor swift like it or not. The others mentioned are very in the moment, not long lasting all over the place like Taylor is but she's smart with her being "everywhere" while other artists don't know when to just stop being in our faces.

lastdecember said:

while other artists don't know when to just stop being in our faces.

You do know that pre-1970s it was common for the average act to release 2 or even 3 albums a year. In some cases with non-album singles along with that. TV shows would have around 35-39 episodes per season, when many shows today have 6-12 episodes. There's also soap operas which constantly shoot without breaks like prime time shows and don't show reruns except maybe for certain holidays like Christmas.

onlyforaminute said:

I still think everything is more niche within niches. The niches are just pretty huge these days. Bruno was big there for a minute. I'm not sure what happened to him. Childish Gambino hot for a minute but it's been crickets. I thought it was supposed to be Cardi B but she seems to be becoming more just contoversial drama who knows. I remember there was some big news about Taylor Swift but I forgot what. She sales a lot though.

And ain't nobody even doing that WAP song/dance anymore either. Wasn't that just a thing in like July or some shit? People can't be bothered with it now.

Taylor released some record, but I ain't heard shit about it since that. Maybe her fans are carrying the torch.

I would hope Bruno is making music.

JayCrawford said:

Nope. There hasn't been a star for 30 years. Michael Jackson was the last star.

Garth Brooks has 9 albums that have sold at least 10 million each in the USA. Michael Jackson hasn't done that even counting the albums with his brothers. There's artists like Selena, Romeo Santos, Ricky Martin, Daddy Yankee, Shakira, & Bad Bunny who are popular with the Latino audience. There's even a separate Grammy Awards show for Latin artists. You must think that a "star" is only someone white people like or know. Even with that, The Fresh Prince has been popular in music, TV, and movies. He was even called "King Of The 4th Of July" at one time. Here's some other stars:

MC Hammer (had a doll and a Saturday moring cartoon)
New Kids On The Block (also had dolls, bedsheets, lamps, a 1-900 hotline, sleeping bags, a cartoon, etc.)
Beastie Boys
NWA (had the highest grossing biopic before the Queen one, Ice Cube is a popular actor and owns a basketball league, Dr. Dre became close to a billionaire from Beats headphones, Dre also discovered Snoop Dogg & Eminem)
Vanilla Ice (had a movie Cool As Ice and a doll)
LL Cool J (even now he's been on the long running TV show NCIS Los Angeles)
Nirvana/Foo Fighters
Weird Al (his career lasted longer than some of the artists he did parodies of)
Wham!/George Michael
TLC
Mary J. Blige
Aaliyah

Whitney Houston
'N Sync/Justin Timberlake
U2
Metallica
Nickelback
The Fugees/Wyclef/Lauryn Hill
Wu Tang Clan (I heard an ODB song in a recent commercial, Method Man is the host of the celebrity rap battle show Drop The Mic and is an actor)
Mariah Carey

Shania Twain

Dixie Chicks/The Chicks (even after being banned from many country radio stations)
Destiny's Child/Beyoncé
Creed
Adele

Bruno Mars

Rihanna

MickyDolenz said:

MickyDolenz said:

lastdecember said:

while other artists don't know when to just stop being in our faces.

You do know that pre-1970s it was common for the average act to release 2 or even 3 albums a year. In some cases with non-album singles along with that. TV shows would have around 35-39 episodes per season, when many shows today have 6-12 episodes. There's also soap operas which constantly shoot without breaks like prime time shows and don't show reruns except maybe for certain holidays like Christmas.

NO I'm not talking about being in our faces with your music, Taylor did two albums this year and people everywhere are like that's not smart that's overkill, no that's what all artists should be aiming to do. I'm talking about artists being in our face for everything BUT music, I'm talking dropping one song and then doing magazines and doing Tik Tok videos and dumb shit like that pardon my French, that's what I mean. Not that a musician shouldn't do an album a year, they all should that's how you grow.

lastdecember said:

NO I'm not talking about being in our faces with your music, Taylor did two albums this year and people everywhere are like that's not smart that's overkill, no that's what all artists should be aiming to do. I'm talking about artists being in our face for everything BUT music, I'm talking dropping one song and then doing magazines and doing Tik Tok videos and dumb shit like that pardon my French, that's what I mean. Not that a musician shouldn't do an album a year, they all should that's how you grow.

I wonder what they would have thought of Toto. They released their own albums and also played on a lot of other artists records at the same time as session musicians. Same with Booker T & The MGs in the 1960s. When singers like Johnny Cash, Kenny Rogers, The Jacksons, or Sonny & Cher had variety shows on TV in the 1960s & 1970s, they were seen every week.