guitarzan

I glanced over at my Taylor Swift Reputation Tour VIP box on my dresser this morning (not far from my framed 1989-era poster... it’s not a shrine, I swear); and it made me wonder if I’ll look back at that album cover 20 years from now and marvel at how young she looks, and how much she’s changed. And that made me think about watching artists grow older, and being with them along the way.

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I’m always fascinated by old video of Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel, because how they looked in the ‘70s is so different from how they’ve looked since I really became aware of them (so... late ‘90s, I guess). So that made me think, who have I been on-board with since the beginning? I’ve seen everybody age, of course, but with someone like Metallica or Pearl Jam, for instance, I can’t say I remember their early days. So I’m thinking specifically of artists I’ve followed all along.

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The names that came to mind first are artists like Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Mandy Moore, and Justin Timberlake. They were just getting started as I was in the back-half of high school, and we’re all around the same age. Then I thought about it a little more, and realized I could go back a little further-- Gwen Stefani.

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I’ve been aware of her since “Don’t Speak.” Maybe I’m not a hardcore fan, but I’ve seen it all... from the cutoff tank-top and bindi, to the pink hair and braces, to Gavin Rossdale, to shit being b-a-n-a-n-a-s, to Blake Shelton. (Brief sidetrack to mention, as I know I have before, that “Early Winter” is one of my top 5 favorite songs ever.) It still seems crazy to me that she’s forty-nine years old, until I remember how long I’ve followed her career.

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Obviously I hope I can look back over the long, illustrious career of Taylor Swift twenty years from now. If she’s settled into a Las Vegas residency by then (like both Gwen and Britney have), then, hey, that’ll be one more reason to take trips to Vegas.