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From Kate Bush to Syd Barrett: pop's most elusive figures From Kate Bush to Syd Barrett: pop's most elusive figures
(3 months later)
It must have been overwhelming for Steve Perry, frontman of one of the world's best-selling rock groups, Journey, to step back on stage after a 19-year absence. The singer, 65, joined Eels for a three-song set in St Paul, Minnesota, on Sunday 25 May.It must have been overwhelming for Steve Perry, frontman of one of the world's best-selling rock groups, Journey, to step back on stage after a 19-year absence. The singer, 65, joined Eels for a three-song set in St Paul, Minnesota, on Sunday 25 May.
While Perry has struggled with health problems – first a bad hip and then arthritis – there are a multitude of other reasons why artists disappear or shun the glare of the media. Often, their music accrues a cult status in their absence.While Perry has struggled with health problems – first a bad hip and then arthritis – there are a multitude of other reasons why artists disappear or shun the glare of the media. Often, their music accrues a cult status in their absence.
Take Neutral Milk Hotel, whose sellout five-star performances in London last week were the first gigs they'd played in the capital since 1998. The group have gained a devout following since frontman Jeff Magnum disbanded them before going on to have a rumoured breakdown.Take Neutral Milk Hotel, whose sellout five-star performances in London last week were the first gigs they'd played in the capital since 1998. The group have gained a devout following since frontman Jeff Magnum disbanded them before going on to have a rumoured breakdown.
Whether troubled by mental-health problems, overwhelmed by drug addiction or generally uninterested in public exposure, here are some of music's most famous recluses.Whether troubled by mental-health problems, overwhelmed by drug addiction or generally uninterested in public exposure, here are some of music's most famous recluses.
Syd Barrett – born Roger Keith BarrettSyd Barrett – born Roger Keith Barrett
Band: Pink Floyd.Band: Pink Floyd.
In 2006, Pink Floyd co-founder Syd Barrett died at the Cambridgeshire home he had retreated to. On the brink of the band's global notoriety in 1968, Barrett famously left and went to live in the basement of his mother's semi-detached house, with reports saying he was so intent on keeping out fans and the press that he boarded up its windows. Although he recorded two solo albums – The Madcap Laughs and Barrett – he channelled most of his creativity into painting, but neither exhibited nor sold any work. "Like many other questing spirits who came to age in the mid-60s, he was inspired by taking LSD to create truly daring, otherworldly music," wrote Nick Kent for the Guardian following Barrett's death. "But the drug ended up fatally fracturing his psyche and turning him into a solitary recluse unable to function within the music industry and society in general." In 2006, Pink Floyd co-founder Syd Barrett died at the Cambridgeshire home he had retreated to. On the brink of the band's global notoriety in 1968, Barrett famously left and went to live in the basement of his mother's semi-detached house, with reports saying he was so intent on keeping out fans and the press that he boarded up its windows. Although he recorded two solo albums – The Madcap Laughs and Barrett – he channelled most of his creativity into painting, but neither exhibited nor sold any work. "Like many other questing spirits who came to age in the mid-60s, he was inspired by taking LSD to create truly daring, otherworldly music," wrote Nick Kent for the Guardian following Barrett's death. "But the drug ended up fatally fracturing his psyche and turning him into a solitary recluse unable to function within the music industry and society in general."
Meg White – born Megan Meg White – bornMegan Martha White
Martha White Band: the White Stripes.
Band: It's been over seven years since the White Stripes last performed on stage. Meg White, the pale-faced drummer from Detroit, Michigan, married Jack in 2000 and went on to release six albums with him under the White Stripe moniker. Their official split – "mostly" attributable to their desire to "preserve what is beautiful and special about the band" – followed a succession of scrapped gigs. The duo cancelled their entire 2007 tour dates due to Meg White's acute anxiety, and although she appeared during an encore set at a show with the Raconteurs in June 2008, there's since been no sign of rejuvenation in the White Stripes camp, with Jack recently telling Rolling Stone: "I don't think anyone talks to Meg. She's always been a hermit. When we lived in Detroit, I'd have to drive over to her house if I wanted to talk to her, so now it's almost never."
the White Stripes. Sly Stone – born Sylvester Stewart
It's Band: Sly and the Family Stone.
been over seven years since the White Stripes last performed on stage. Meg White, the pale-faced drummer from Frontman of one of the greatest funk bands of all time, Stone struggled with drugs throughout much of the 1970s (he missed 27 out of 80 shows during this decade) before vanishing from public view in the early 80s (apart from when he was arrested for cocaine possession). Since then, he's appeared sporadically in public – turning up at Sly and the Family Stone's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 1993 and appearing at performances by bands featuring former Family Stone members, or at the 48th Grammy awards (he left the stage before the song had finished – perhaps something to do with Joss Stone's presence). And then there was the bizarre 2010 Coachella set, which involved an ill-looking Stone lying on stage and ranting about his ex-manager, which followed reports he was living in a camper van in east LA. Facetime with Sly is not easily obtained, as Alexis Petridis found out last year, when he spent the best part of his summer holiday in Newquay trying to get through to the musician: "Have I talked to you enough now?” Stone asked at the end of their interview. “I've got to go to the bathroom. You asked me about regrets. If I don't take a big shit now, I'll regret that."
Detroit, Michigan, married Jack in 2000 and went on to release six albums with him under the White Stripe moniker. Their official split – "mostly" attributable to their desire to "preserve what is beautiful and special about the band" – followed a succession of scrapped gigs. The duo cancelled their entire 2007 tour dates due to Meg
White's acute anxiety, and although she appeared during an encore set at a
show with the Raconteurs
in
June 2008, there's since been no sign of rejuvenation in the White Stripes camp,
with Jack
recently telling Rolling Stone: "I don't think anyone talks to Meg. She's always been a hermit.
When we lived in Detroit, I'd have to drive over to her house if I
wanted to talk to her, so now it's almost never."
Sly
Stone – born Sylvester
Stewart
Band:
Sly and the
Family Stone.
Frontman of
one of the greatest funk bands of all time, Stone struggled with
drugs throughout much of the 1970s (he
missed 27 out of 80 shows during this decade) before vanishing from public view in the early 80s (apart from when
he was arrested for cocaine possession).
Since then, he's appeared sporadically in public – turning up at Sly and the
Family Stone's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 1993 and appearing at performances by bands featuring former Family Stone members, or at the 48th Grammy awards (he left the
stage before the song had finished – perhaps something to do with Joss Stone's presence). And then there was the bizarre
2010 Coachella set,
which involved an ill-looking Stone lying on stage and ranting about
his ex-manager, which followed reports he was living in a camper van in east LA. Facetime with Sly is not easily obtained, as Alexis Petridis found
out last year, when he spent the best part of his summer holiday in Newquay
trying to get through to the musician: "Have I talked
to you enough now?” Stone asked at the end of their interview. “I've
got to go to the bathroom. You asked me about regrets. If I don't
take a big shit now, I'll regret that."
Reading on mobile? Click here to viewReading on mobile? Click here to view
Madlib – born Otis Madlib – born Otis Jackson Jr
Jackson Jr Performing under: Madlib, Quasimoto, Yesterdays New Quintet, Beat Konducta and more.
Performing The pioneering DJ, rapper and hip-hop producer Madlib is perhaps best-known for the critically acclaimed Madvillainy, an album that features a contender for the crown of most secretive character in hip-hop: MF Doom. Since the 90s, Madlib has spent a varied career working with the likes of J Dilla and Erykah Badu and inspiring everyone from Thom Yorke to Odd Future with his jazz-inflected production and veil of mystery. Rather than disappear completely, the California-bred musician operates in a state of anonymity, rarely giving interviews despite having released roughly 50 records now via different guises. "Some people think I’m crazy, but I’m just a normal dude that loves music,” he told Dazed and Confused. "I’m quiet, so people might think I’m a mute. I’m a hermit. People rarely see me. People can rarely get in contact with me. I barely answer my phone. I’m not tweeting much. I’m not hashtagging and all that. I don’t do selfies. J Dilla and Common called me an alien. We used to call each other aliens because we’re weird.”
under: Madlib, Quasimoto,
Yesterdays
New Quintet, Beat
Konducta and more.
The pioneering DJ, rapper and hip-hop producer Madlib is perhaps
best-known for the critically acclaimed
Madvillainy,
an album that features a contender for the crown of most secretive character in hip-hop: MF Doom. Since the 90s, Madlib has spent a
varied career working with the likes of J Dilla
and Erykah Badu and inspiring everyone from Thom Yorke to Odd Future with his jazz-inflected production and veil of mystery.
Rather than disappear completely, the California-bred musician operates in a state of
anonymity, rarely giving interviews despite having released roughly
50 records now via
different guises. "Some
people think I’m crazy, but I’m just a normal dude that loves
music,” he told Dazed and Confused. "I’m quiet, so people
might think I’m a mute. I’m a hermit. People rarely see me.
People can rarely get in contact with me. I barely answer my phone.
I’m not tweeting much. I’m not hashtagging and all that. I don’t
do selfies. J Dilla and Common called me an alien. We used to call
each other aliens because we’re weird.”
Kate BushKate Bush
The internet ground to a halt in March when Kate Bush announced that she would be performing her first live shows in 35 years. “I hope you will be able to join us and I look forward to seeing you there,” she wrote modestly – before tickets to her shows sold out quicker than you could say WAA-AAGGH Babooshka. Despite releasing new material, she hasn't performed since a six-week tour around Britain and Europe in 1979. So what happened? People have pegged her dismissal of the live scene on a fear of flying, on grief following the death of her lighting director, Bill Duffield, and on a disregard for celebrity. “By the end,” she once recalled, “I felt a terrific need to retreat as a person, because I felt that my sexuality – which in a way I hadn’t really had a chance to explore myself – was being given to the world in a way which I found impersonal.” A wild show combining music, dance, poetry, mime, burlesque, magic and theatre, the tour was certainly a spectacle – something, she admitted in an interview with Mojo magazine in 2011, that may simply have tired her out. “It was enormously enjoyable. But physically it was absolutely exhausting,” she said. The internet ground to a halt in March when Kate Bush announced that she would be performing her first live shows in 35 years. “I hope you will be able to join us and I look forward to seeing you there,” she wrote modestly – before tickets to her shows sold out quicker than you could say WAA-AAGGH Babooshka. Despite releasing new material, she hasn't performed since a six-week tour around Britain and Europe in 1979. So what happened? People have pegged her dismissal of the live scene on a fear of flying, on grief following the death of her lighting director, Bill Duffield, and on a disregard for celebrity. “By the end,” she once recalled, “I felt a terrific need to retreat as a person, because I felt that my sexuality – which in a way I hadn’t really had a chance to explore myself – was being given to the world in a way which I found impersonal.” A wild show combining music, dance, poetry, mime, burlesque, magic and theatre, the tour was certainly a spectacle – something, she admitted in an interview with Mojo magazine in 2011, that may simply have tired her out. “It was enormously enjoyable. But physically it was absolutely exhausting,” she said.
There are many more mysteries in music, so let us know who you think are the world's most elusive artists in the comments below.There are many more mysteries in music, so let us know who you think are the world's most elusive artists in the comments below.