Originally Posted by vanblah

Billy Joel made the jump from "pop" to classical (Amazon.com: Billy Joel: Fantasies & Delusions, Op. 1-10: Billy Joel, Richard Joo: Music).

and

David Byrne has done it several times (DavidByrne.com - Music).

so has

Danny Elfman (BEFORE: Oingo Boingo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ... AFTER: just listen to about anything he's done for movie soundtracks).

and

Elvis Costello (The Juliet Letters - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia).

I'm not saying that it's all GOOD just that being a pop artist doesn't preclude one from loftier ideas and potential.