Feb 4, 2018 4 min read

Baby boomers and the older members of Generation X hardly need any reminders of advancing age. Their bones might creak when they get out of bed in the morning, their hair is no longer as abundant but their waistlines are getting more so, and they have to keep a watchful eye on their 401(k)s because the retirement that once seemed so distant has either arrived or is within a foreseeable span of time.

Alas, reminders of time’s march have been cascading down for this age cohort since the start of the year. The Grammy Awards, which were broadcast last weekend, featured performers that most people who have reached or passed the half-century mark have never heard of, like Childish Gambino, Lil Uzi Vert and Daddy Yankee. While it’s the inevitable lot of the old to not like (or get) the music of the young, this has to be particularly irksome to a contingent that remembers their parents and grandparents heaping disdain on the Beatles, David Bowie, Ozzy Osbourne or Nirvana.

At the same time, 2018 has seen a succession of beloved veteran performers announce they are going to hang up their spurs after embarking on farewell tours. Elton John will be coming to Pittsburgh in October on a much-hyped (and very pricey) outing that’s been called “Farewell Yellow Brick Road.” Paul Simon has announced a farewell extravaganza for July in London. Lynyrd Skynyrd, which still has a couple of original members left in its ranks, have said they are calling it a day, and a member of the band Rush said they are “basically done.”

On a much more doleful note, Neil Diamond announced a few weeks ago he was forsaking the concert stage after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

An argument can be made that Elton John and Paul Simon are the lucky ones, considering how many of their peers never made it to their 70s due to bad luck or misadventures. Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison left us in their 20s, John Lennon and Elvis Presley were barely into middle age when they died, and, more recently, Bowie, Prince, George Michael, Gregg Allman and Tom Petty have departed. And it also should be pointed out farewell tours sometimes end up being extended for years on end, and the farewell is subject to being rescinded. One need only look to Frank Sinatra, who “retired” in 1971 when he was a youngster of 55, only to return two years later. He kept going until 1994, when he was croaking out the lyrics to “My Way” as they went by on a teleprompter.

But the farewell pronouncements being offered in recent weeks should probably be taken seriously. Some of the artists putting away their instruments are undoubtedly thinking of Sinatra, and don’t want their final days in the spotlight to be remembered for eroded abilities and creeping senility. And, just like everyday punchers of the clock, some might well be looking forward to pursuing other interests while they still have the time and health to do so.

Still, the idea of Elton John not turning up every couple of years at the local sports arena is a bracing wake-up call for a couple of generations of fans who grew accustomed to his presence. It also is certainly making beads of sweat break out on the brows of concert promoters – when figures like the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and Bruce Springsteen retire, who will be left to reliably fill arenas and stadiums? Taylor Swift, maybe, but who else?

All of this, in fact, brings to mind a Rolling Stones song from their heyday: “Time Waits For No One.”