At the Ageing in America conference last week, amongst the discussions about Alzheimer’s and family caregiving, a panel of music icons discussed the issues they face in ageing and why they absolutely hate the stigma of “being old”.
Ringo Starr (The Beatles), Keith Richards (The Rolling Stones) and Phil Leash (The Grateful Dead) were on the panel discussing why ageing is fantastic… Despite the media’s constant lashings.
The rock icons all explained just how insulting it is when “still” appears before “playing” in every news piece they see. “Just because we’re in our 60s and 70s doesn’t mean we can’t play anymore.” Said Leash.
Richards believes that no matter how old you are, you’re never too old for learning, saying, “I’m still an apprentice. There’s always stuff to learn. I wouldn’t be surprised if were doing this in 10 years and Mick (age 70) will still be able to do amazing pirouettes.”
To think that the “ageing” stigma is affecting even our greatest rock starts is quite ridiculous. Why society cannot appreciate the talent instead of ridicule the age makes no sense at all.
Ringo Starr went on to say that, “As long as I can hold the sticks, it can go on forever; it’s something you don’t have to retire from”.
When something is great, let it be great for as long as it can. As a society we need to stop cutting success short and let people be great for as long as they truly are.
In 2012 the 12/12/12 concert featuring the Rolling Stones, Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen sold out in minutes. But, the media ridiculed the concept asking why would people want to go and watch former greats?
Pamela Braverman-Schmidt, a professor of human services who was also a panelist at the conference said, “Rather than celebrating them and saying ‘Wow, they can still shake it,’’ she noted, “the press said things like: ‘It’s time for them to hang it up’ and ‘It’s disgusting! It’s gross! Roger Daltrey must have had pec implants. Who does he think he is?’”
The truth, is that they aren’t former greats, they are still greats. And they still have just as much talent, if not more, than what they did 30 years ago.
The Victorian Commissioner for Senior Victorians, Gerard Mansour said earlier this month, “In light of the ageing of the population, it is timely for our community to re-think the concept of ageing and what it means to get older. There is no doubt that seniors’ participation in the arts is helping our community to re-define ageing in very positive and proactive ways.”
Maybe we need more people like Mansour, championing our cause and supporting us and our incredible value as we get older.
We want to campaign against the “old” stigma. We aren’t old, and we shouldn’t be forced to give up what we love or what we’re good at because other people think we’ve had our time…
We want to know what you’ve achieved in your past and what you are doing right now. Tell us what hasn’t changed in your life as you’ve got older?
