The "Art" in Artist: Is it merely a syllable?
- Caroline McConnico
- Jun 1, 2021
- 3 min read
Mr. Shankly, a guitarist, a remix to ignition, a peace activist and the King of Pop. Can I still listen to them? Or is the music too intertwined in its musician?
As I sit here, writing this, I hear the Smiths rage from my turn table. Listening to the first few notes of "William, It Was Really Nothing", I am once again aghast with the person behind one of my favorite bands: Morrissey.
Should I even be surprised? You can't write songs like "Everyday's Like Sunday" and just be a normal person, can you? But a racist and British nationalist? That's not a "Charming Man".
Singing lyrics like "I was looking for a job and then I found a job", I guess it shouldn't come as a complete shock that Morrissey isn't the most sane nor conventional person out there. But are his bodies of work still allowed to be stomped around to? Or have his twisted prejudices forced me to turn off "Still Ill" and take off my record, replacing it with something far less controversial? (Think: Jack Johnson's "In Between Dreams")
It's not news to learn that legendary musicians have had their fair share of faults. And that the idols we spend our time worshiping are not usually good people. There are countless incidences where the celebrities we have chosen to love have turned out to be the exact opposite of who they led us to believe. Names including Morrissey, Jimmy Page, R. Kelly, John Lennon and Michael Jackson flood headlines, releasing startling information of the true characters behind their rock star masks.
For Led Zeppelin guitarist, the "magic fingers" Jimmy Page, Lori Maddox was his favorite crime. Often referred to as "baby groupie", Maddox was just 14 when Page got his tour manager to 'kidnap' her, taking her back to his hotel room, where she was held under lock and key. Maddox's name would go on to be entangled with the likes of David Bowie, Iggy Pop, and Mick Jagger. Although she's stated on multiple occasions that there was full consent regarding their relationship, she has also said that she now sees things differently, encouraging other young girls to not choose the same lifestyle.
Even though Page was 28 and Maddox was 14, can I still listen to D'yer Maker in the car, rolling my windows down and cranking the volume?
I like to think that the music a musician crafts is separate from the creator. To me, appreciating the product is not intertwined in appreciating the artist. Art is more than its artist. It is a body of work, we all should be able to enjoy, completely apart from the morals and actions of the person behind it.
Don't get me wrong. The things musicians like R. Kelly and Chris Brown have done disgust me. The idea of John Lennon abandoning and beating his son, Julian, and then writing a song like "Beautiful Boy", sends me into a fit of denial.
But when I think about having to burn my Beatles CDs, my heart breaks. Why should I have to suffer just because my favorite rock stars turned out to be not who they said they were? Just because I enjoy listening to "Black or White", doesn't mean that I in anyway condone Michael Jackson's actions involving young boys in the late 80's and early 90's.
So I'll still listen to those songs I love, but not without thinking of the treachery the artists behind them have left. After all, the are inevitably intertwined with one another. When I hear the name "John Lennon", I'll be undoubtedly thinking of the song "God", but will also know not to praise Lennon like one. I recommend the same to all you crazy Beatlemaniacs.
One last tidbit: If you're ever looking for a noncontroversial artist to praise, David Byrne is always there. Ironically, he is not a "Psycho Killer".
Sources to prove I'm not lying:
John Lennon: https://www.vice.com/en/article/ypa9b5/you-dont-have-to-imagine-john-lennon-beat-women-and-childrenits-just-a-fact
Michael Jackson: https://www.npr.org/2019/03/05/699995484/michael-jackson-a-quarter-century-of-sexual-abuse-allegations
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