Artists at the height of their power
 

Top artists--musicians in particular---usually have a progression of their careers that involves a breakthrough, a plateau, and then a waxing and waning---or some other development which some may argue is better than their "peak" (i.e. peak of popularity or fame).

Regardless, I have a fascination with celebrity in regard to the sometimes manic proportions to which some acts have driven large audiences. Two that come immediately to mind are Elvis Presley and the Beatles. Between Elvis "the Pelvis" and "Beatlemania," we get a good glimpse of celebrity of epic proportions. To wit:



If you pay particular attention to the audience feedback...it's stupendous the amount of celebrity power these young men had at the height of their power. They had stolen the hearts of girls around the world, bringing many of them literally to tears. They were supported by an international media frenzy. They also attracted the attention of broadcasting/moral authorities with regard to their acts/content, which led to disdain and bans on certain songs. Their influence was far-reaching; their celebrity unprecedented.

However, both acts had later careers that developed into something else entirely.

Elvis progressed into film and an eventual comeback before his death, while the Beatles retreated in large part to the studio and psychedelia shortly before their breakup.

Regardless, it would seem at the late stage of their careers that the craze surrounding Elvis at the time of his breakthrough and the mania driving Beatlemania was in large part a thing of the past.

Do you have other examples of artists at the height of their power? What is the extent of their effect?

Those two are probably the biggest examples in terms of pop music. There are others who've shaped the music industry by their presence alone -- Les Paul, Jimi Hendrix, Black Sabbath, Iggy Pop, Buddy Holly and so on, but in terms of sheer face (recognition) value, the Beatles and Elvis are head and shoulders above them all. Michael Jackson is arguably close to them, and recent enough that I imagine many here remember the late-eighties mania that he inspired, but I don't know if he'll have the same lasting impact.

What strikes me is the consequences of it. Jackson and Elvis both ended up (for lack of a better term) rather crazy. A bit detached from reality, if you will. The Beatles, as a whole, fared better -- although I suspect that their withdrawal from the spotlight had a lot to do with that.

The media machine that produced mega-stars is falling apart at the seams. The music landscape today is much broader and more varied than ever before, and as a consequence this kind of phenomenon is largely behind us, I think.

On the flip side, if we consider musicians solely in the context of how they've changed the face of the music business, there's a much broader pool. Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Holly, Black Sabbath, Les Paul, Iggy Pop and so on and so on. These acts may not have inspired mania on quite the same scale, but their fingerprints are all over modern music.