Quote:
Originally Posted by michelej1
But how long can she tour physically? Jerry Lee Lewis just had a stroke, but says he can't wait to hit the road again. He probably will. But Stevie, by contrast, is very conscious of her physical appearance and diminishing mobility. For many people, ditching the heels would not have been a struggle, but for Stevie (and Prince) it was, because she has an image she wants to maintain on stage. I wonder if feeling that she is no longer the person the people came out to see will keep her from touring indefinitely.
|
these folks get sooo addicted to the role they play to the point that they can't separate themselves from it anymore. We may think, oh, they go onstage and play the star and then come offstage and back to being "normal" people. They don't. I always recall Stevie's comment about being in rehab and them asking her to write or talk (I forget how the therapy exercise went) about Stevie the person vs Stevie the onstage performer, and her saying how hard that was, like the hardest thing she'd ever done ( bit of Stevie dramatic overstatement maybe) but nevertheless that she really came to see herself as the onstage character. She still does. "I'm a legend and I deserve it". And as long as people are making money off her they will continue to coddle her and go along with her attitude.
She won't be able to give it up. The manager of Kiss made a comment about Gene Simmons and how addicted to fame/performing he is saying "When he's 95 he'll be standing at the end of his driveway, holding onto with his walker, flicking his tongue at passing cars". I put Stevie in the same category. She'll be Elizabeth Taylor in her wheelchair, but draped in shawls and beads and wearing a top hat. Karen will have to strain to see over the hat when pushing her around.