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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