Rumors About Musicians That Turned Out To Be True

There are plenty of crazy stories out there about musicians. Since they live lives full of money, fame, groupies, and a what-happens-on-tour-stays-on-tour mentality, it's not surprising that normal people with far less exciting existences will believe pretty much any rumor that starts going around about a performer. There's almost nothing we won't believe about the behavior of musicians. But so often the tales of reckless hedonism, diva antics, or random weirdness end up being untrue.

Some musicians just have a freakish amount of talent. Most of us learn at a young age that we are not those people. The realization probably came as soon as you were old enough to read social cues and you tried showing off your amazing talents to anyone except your pet. (Daisy is a very good dog, but maybe not a very good judge of musical ability.) Those who do have that freakish amount of talent are the singer-songwriters, the people who can play any instrument they pick up, the ones who get lost in the music of their own making whether they're in the studio or on stage. There's something almost magical about listening to a true musical genius, and they've definitely earned our respect. But it's easy to forget that behind all that music is a very ordinary person, and sometimes, that ordinary person is a terrible human being. \

We all likely share the same fantasies when it comes to meeting our heroes. In the wonderful dreamworld of chance encounters with famous people, we are cool, collected, and not at all geeking out at sharing the same real estate as someone we admire. This applies to musicians as well. We imagine that we could conjure up stories that would make them see us differently than every other fervent follower they come across. "I'll make an impression on them," you think to yourself. "One day."

Musicians, especially the pop star variety, are among the most ubiquitous celebrities on the planet. Their music is everywhere, their faces are everywhere, and their lives are seemingly perfect at all times. After all, they get paid untold gobs of money to sing pretty songs. If that isn't the ultimate dream job, what is?

Here's the good news: We've finally started to move past the idea that a song has to be obscure in order for discerning people to like it. If you're lucky, you might make it the rest of your adult life without someone at a party berating you for never having heard of their favorite musicians, The Adjective Verb Nouns. As a society, we've finally made our peace with admitting that we don't hate popular music. At least, the listeners have. The songs' performers still think you're listening to garbage.