This chick is getting on my last nerve. First off, I'm not in her demographic. I wouldn't be able to ID her music, but I know what she looks like. What I do know is that she has been doing this music lark since she was kid, auditioned for America's Got Talent, has had record deals, publishing deals, left Missouri for L.A. for her career. She has made it essentially and now says fame sucks. What did you think was going to happen? Granted you barely know your arse from a hole in the ground at 26, but she is hardly a naive teenager. Life is a series of trade offs. People are barely making a living, there are people being massacred and you have this kid bitching about success Poor you!
This situation reminds me of when George Michael was bitching about fame back in 1990 to the L.A. Times. Frank Sinatra famously wrote a reply to the article, noting the lack of gratitude for his fortune and noting that it isn't forever. There is aways someone more talented, prettier and younger to take your place.
Dear Friends,
When I saw your Calendar cover today about George Michael, “the reluctant pop star,” my first reaction was he should thank the good Lord every morning when he wakes up to have all that he has. And that’ll make two of us thanking God every morning for all that we have.
I don’t understand a guy who lives “in hopes of reducing the strain of his celebrity status.” Here’s a kid who “wanted to be a pop star since I was about 7 years old.” And now that he’s a smash performer and songwriter at 27 he wants to quit doing what tons of gifted youngsters all over the world would shoot grandma for — just one crack at what he’s complaining about.
Come on, George. Loosen up. Swing, man, Dust off those gossamer wings and fly yourself to the moon of your choice and be grateful to carry the baggage we’ve all had to carry since those lean nights of sleeping on buses and helping the driver unload the instruments.
And no more of that talk about “the tragedy of fame.” The tragedy of fame is when no one shows up and you’re singing to the cleaning lady in some empty joint that hasn’t seen a paying customer since Saint Swithin’s day. And you’re nowhere near that; you’re top dog on the top rung of a tall ladder called Stardom, which in Latin means thanks-to-the-fans who were there when it was lonely.
Talent must not be wasted. Those who have it — and you obviously do or today’s Calendar cover article would have been about Rudy Vallee — those who have talent must hug it, embrace it, nurture it and share it lest it be taken away from you as fast as it was loaned to you.
Trust me. I’ve been there.
