David Hepworth is a British journalist who has written about music for four decades. Now he’s published “Uncommon People: The Rise and Fall of the Rock Stars,” and joined me to talk about it. Among the topics we covered:
- How much of achieving rock stardom comes from hard work, how much from right-place-right-time?
- If the era of rock stars is over, who was the last of the breed?
- What do you mean when you say, in the book, that rock stars are often rock stars before they make records?
- You write about performers who created their own myths, like Bob Dylan — how so?
- How much of rock history is just about guys trying to get the attention of women?
- Did music become less interesting in the 80s and 90s when MTV and corporate America got involved?
- Can someone who’s a genuine rule breaker become a music star today, or do they have to fit a mold?
- Is it easier to get famous in the age of YouTube?
- Why do you say social media has put the final nail in the coffin of the rock stars?
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