Heather Nash and Niall Ballinger discuss whether the death of an artist changes their public image.
Yes
When a prominent figure in the arts community dies, it is devastating. So many people seem to have a connection to people in the arts. If you grow up listening to an artist for years, or follow an actor’s career through all their starring roles, you’re obviously going to feel emotional when the sad news of their death is announced. January got off to a poor start for the British art scene. Both David Bowie and Alan Rickman died within a short space of each other, and we also suffered the loss of Motorhead’s Lemmy and The Eagles’ Glen Frey. It seemed like everywhere you looked (mostly on social media) there were special messages of mourning, people clamouring to tell each other just how sad they were.
Almost as soon as Bowie’s death was reported his record company started reprinting his back catalogue, preparing for the inevitable spike in demand for all his classic albums. Bowie moved from an interesting current artist with an undeniable string of successful albums and iconic hits with a few dodgy moments in between, to a proclaimed out and out legend of music. Not that I’m arguing that I personally think he isn’t, but in a flip of a switch, it was impossible to be ambivalent towards Bowie. If you didn’t think he was the greatest artist ever, you were wrong.
That’s what an artist’s death does, of course. It elevates them to a point beyond criticism, and affords them all sorts of titles. ‘Prince of Pop’ for Michael Jackson, Elvis ‘The King’ Presley. These titles give the artist a myth like status, moving them from the living to the land of legend. Most of the time this collective worship isn’t a bad thing; it’s just an interesting look into our psyche and the cult of celebrity.
But often it obscures the reality of an artist. Least harmfully, bad albums are forgotten and flopped songs become a point of nostalgia, rather than just an awkward moment in a career. On the other end of the scale, the combination of death and celebrity can help obscure the worst part of the person behind the art. Paul McCartney often talks about how John Lennon’s death made him a ‘martyr’. McCartney argued in an interview with Esquire last year that Lennon’s death changed public perception of his former band mate. Whereas alive he was one quarter of the Beatles, with ‘great’ and ‘not so great’ solo stuff too, McCartney thinks that after his death he became the embodiment of the Beatles, the frontman that they never had before. McCartney talked about arguing over song-writing credit for songs like ‘Yesterday’ that McCartney wrote on his own, but was attributed to Lennon-McCartney instead, and how Lennon was more than fine with taking credit. Although McCartney’s interview mostly just voices frustration with the ‘revisionism’ that occurred after his death, it also hints at the more sour side of Lennon’s character. We remember him now as a peace-promoting musical genius, but it’s a well-worn controversy that in reality Lennon was anything but. He openly admitted he had a tendency towards violence, and all but abandoned his son by his first marriage. Although by the time the Beatles were recording their last album relationships were already fractured, Lennon was a volatile person to be around, and made things unbearable. So it’s true he was no saint, but with his place in music history firmly set, the word will probably continue to side step the more unpleasant truths behind his character. After all, we cannot speak ill of the dead.
Perhaps, however, this line of thought is wondering into another territory – can we separate the artist from the art? A different can of worms all-together. But it’s certain that after his death Lennon’s popularity rose, as fitting with the pattern we now know so well.
Heather Nash
No
The recent passing of the great David Bowie prompted an outpouring of emotion from contemporaries and fans touched by his work. This isn’t uncommon in the event of any person’s death, but is our perception of an artist drastically altered through death? Perhaps causing us to forget all which was negatively spoken of said artist in the press.
In my opinion the answer is simple: no. Although artists may indulge in drug taking or have scrapes with the law which are subsequently plastered over the morning papers, their impact on their art form is what endears us to them and causes us to remember them so fondly. In Bowie’s case we not only revere him for his obvious musical genius, but we too laud him for the work he did outside his of his field. Upon his death following a private battle with cancer, the German government paid tribute to the man who had moved to Berlin in the mid-1970s for helping bringing down the wall. Heroes released in 1978 draws heavily from inspiration of living in Berlin during the midst of the Cold War, alongside musician and close friend Iggy Pop.
It is certainly true that artists experience a surge in popularity in the aftermath of their death, in some cases surpassing their popularity when they were alive. Rather than this representing a ‘free pass’ from any wrongdoing they’ve committed in their life, it is a celebration of the legacy that they have left us with. If we focus our minds on the great musicians who have died early: Jimmi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Notorious BIG, among notable others, their lifestyle wouldn’t be that of sound morality but their music touched us and that’s what we’re mourning. We appreciated their musical output while they were alive and will miss it greatly now they are gone.
This time last year A$AP Yams of A$AP MOB died via a suspected drug intoxication. This was a man who was influential in making A$AP MOB a regular fixture on the New York and worldwide Hip-Hop scene. The circumstances surrounding his death were not falsified or kept from public knowledge, and it serves as a strong message highlighting the dangers of drug abuse. His behaviour wasn’t condoned which shows artists don’t automatically assume martyr status when dead, even if the sound does take its own infamous status. Close friend and long term collaborator A$AP Rocky revealed that he had always struggled with drugs, stating ‘that was his thing’.
Furthermore, judgement over an artist is not reserved for beyond the grave. Recently American artist Future has been heavily criticised for promoting a drug addled lifestyle to those who perceive him as a role model. He has even gone as far as to say that he largely exaggerates his drug consumption on his records and it’s not a true reflection of his lifestyle, leaving his adoring fans somewhat bemused.
Artists just like regular people are imperfect; the only difference is that their mistakes are scrutinised and debated whilst ours are enjoyed in complete privacy. Death doesn’t absolve them of any wrongdoing; we just choose to focus on finer moments.
Niall Ballinger