The Longetivity of "Old Timers" In The 90s and Beyond

 As many baby boomers and even Gen X-ers know, there have been many artists that have been around for many years such as The Rolling Stones, The Who, Queen, Yes, Aerosmith, U2, and numerous others. 

However, as the 80s became the 90s, it begs the question - just how sustainable have all these acts been going into the 21st Century? To begin, let's take a look at some sales figures compared to older albums.

U2

Undoubtedly being a late bloomer, U2 have been around for well over four decades now, but it has been EXACTLY 40 years since they dropped their debut album, Boy. It was only after 1983, when they ditched Jimmy Iovine and hooked up with Roxy Music's Brian Eno and his partner, Daniel Lanois, for 1984's The Unforgettable Fire, that they achieved worldwide fame - not to mention with 1987's The Joshua Tree and 1988's Rattle & Hum. 

The turn of the decade, curiously enough, did not stop the boys from Dublin from making a name for themselves. They started the decade issuing two records with new sound - 1991's Achtung Baby, and 1993's Zooropa. In fact, they did not even tour until their 1993-94 tour after the latter was issued. These two albums represent a change in style incorporating electronics and helping to expose a new generation to their sound. They also laid the foundation for their future albums, such as 1997's Pop and 2001's Elevation.

The graphic below shows their sales figures from 1980's Boy to the most recent, Orphan. To give you an idea, just how much they turned around, sales from Rattle and Hum were 26,800,000- about half of that of The Joshua Tree. But wait, take a look at Achtung Baby sales! Amazing - an increase of nearly 4 million copies. A simillar increase happens from Pop to All That You Can't Leave Behind. 

Also interesting, is the fact that singles downloads have surpassed physical copies although there are some exceptions, such as 1981's October, 1984's The Unforgettable Fire, and 1988's Rattle and Hum

Aerosmith

Around since the early 70s, Aerosmith achieved mass success in the mid 1970s - commencing with ther 1975 LP, Toys in The Attic and peaking with 1977's Draw the Line. Drug and alchohol dependencies have held the band down - even resulting in two of the originals departing. However, in 1985, with the help of then-manager Tim Collins, the band members all rehabilitated themselves. The result was 1987's Permanent Vacation and then 1989's Pump. Both records sold massively and thanks to the launch of MTV, helped expose a newer generation. 

The image below shows the band's popularity through the years. As stated above, we can see a rock bottom hit come 1985's Done with Mirrors, only to rebound with 1987's Permanent Vacation. By 1992's Get a Grip, the band appears to have hit its peak as far as album sales and it has since been downward commencing with 1998's Nine LIves - although not issued on the album, their song for the Armagadon movie, I Don't Want to Miss a Thing achieved massive success.

Yes

Being one of the lads of prog rock - alongside their competitors such as ELP, Pink Floyd, King Crimson, and Genesis, it may surprise you that Yes have been long-standing. In fact, they released albums in the 21st century that both Pink Floyd and Genesis have not done, not to mention that ELP had broken up completely by 1995. 

Yes hit rock bottom twice, and both times at the turn of decades - once in the 70s, then again in the 80s. Despite issuing albums well into the 21st Century, it is worth noting that in terms of both sales, and charts, the band has seen a steady decline since 1995. 1994's Talk was their last top 20 UK album, and since, they have not achieved such success - most noteably thanks to complications by various record labels.  

Styx

Styx peaked between 1976 and 1984, thanks to mass-selling albums such as 1977's The Grand Illusion, or 1981's Paradise Theatre. Their inter-member arguments led to difference in opinion, but the band still noteably sold out. 

Styx did make an ever-so-brief comeback to the charts in 1991, with Show me The Way from their cleverly-titled album, Edge of The Century. Unfortunately since then, they've been on a downward trajectory - apart from their greatest hits packages, all of which came to a head with DeYoung's exit in 1999.

The Rolling Stones

Much like Yes, the Stones continued issuing new albums even into the 90s and the new century; however, combared to their success over the past 30 years, they have not been able to live up to it since.

Eric Clapton

Following Derek and the Dominoes' 1972 split, Clapton has successfully been making albums. The early 90s, despite the tragedy of losing his son, Conor, have seen him make a comeback to touring and recording, thanks to his 1992 performance at Bray Studios, which was taped for an "MTV Unplugged" special. 

Elton John

Sir Elton John may have hit rock bottom in the late 1970s, however he has rebounded in the 1980s, and yet again in the 90s. His mass comeback has been fueled by his writing the score for The Lion King, noteably Can You Feel the Love Tonight, as well as his 1997 rewriting of his 1972 hit Candle in The Wind, this version being dedicated to Diana, Princess of Wales. 

Tom Petty/The Heartbreakers

Even after hurting his hand in the mid 1980s, there was really no stopping the late-great Petty. In the late 80s, he hooked up with the late-greats Roy Orbison and George Harrison, as well as Jeff Lynne of ELO fame to form The Traveling Wilburys. They had hits such as Handle with Care and End of The Line. Petty went solo with 1989's Full Moon Fever, featuring assistance from Lynne and even his Heartbreakers bandmates! The Heartbreakers hit their peak with 1991's Into The Great Wide Open and Petty's 1993 greatest hits package features one of his most recent successes, Mary Jane's Last Dance.

Petty's 1994 solo album, Wildflowers, was a modest success, but he has somehow really failed to live up to that for the next two decades.

---

From what we can see here, only U2 and perhaps Aerosmith, have been pioneers in the world of rock having constantly recorded and released new material; however, in case of the latter, they seemed to have a bit shorter longevity than U2. U2, on the other hand, peaked in sales in 2010 with 2009's No Line on The Horizon.