Too old to rock and roll

By Andy Hughes

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��Press Association

Roger Daltrey

'HOPE I die before I get old!' advised Roger Daltrey in 1965. Bearing in mind that Mr Daltrey is 57 this year, you have to presume his statement was more about the attitude of the times than an actual serious ambition.

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Age is a fact of life that affects musicians as much as the rest of us.�Everyone is getting older one day at a time. The problem with making a career in a profoundly youth-oriented area of culture can present all kinds of problems when�maturity starts to make its presence felt.

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Latest to feel the hot breath of Father Time is Madonna. You'd expect that with the onset of motherhood, and discovering the comfort of being forty-something, Madge would be secure in her status and not care a fig for the upstarts looking to ease her out of the limelight (Click here to discover the origin of this word).

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If rumours are to be believed, this is not so. Madonna has just withdrawn from this year's Brit Awards ceremony, rumoured to be worried about potential upstaging from the likes of young Britney Spears, with the emphasis most definitely on the 'young'.

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Plenty of pop stars have created an image that ensures the passage of time is far less of a problem. The Temptations, veteran soul stars of yester-year are gigging in the UK. If you've spent your formative years in a tuxedo, doo-wopping and twirling in time-honoured style, the doubling of your age makes little or no difference to your credibility.

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Likewise, Elton John whose music, in common with his visual style, makes him difficult to pin down to any time-span, and ensures the twin bonuses of career longevity combined with ageing relatively gracefully.

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The rock market is less well served. Some would say that Mick Jagger must have enjoyed a dignity-bypass to strut around the stage at his time of life, especially since�he said he couldn't see himself still performing Satisfaction when he was 40. For the record, Mr Jagger is 58 this year.

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Heavy metal is a musical style that shows its age more than most. Cavorting about on stage in your twenties wearing spandex and a sneer may be ill advised. Coming out of retirement, as Black Sabbath are poised to do with lead singer Ozzy Osbourne heading for his 53^rd birthday, does give pause for thought about the wisdom of carrying on rocking.