OK - What rock star is the ULTIMATE sell out?

[kid a]

Lenny Kravitz? Target man.

[JVS]

1. Gene Simmons of KISS. The guy agreed to make a reality show where...

he taught British school-kids how to "Rock".

At least Ringo Starr had a raging alcohol problem to explain why he had sunk so low as to be in shining time station. Gene doesn't do drugs or get drunk, so he has no excuse.

[Left Is Write]

6. Seconded. There is no bigger cash whore than Gene Simmons.

He will do or sell anything to make a buck. And what's more, he happily admits to it!

(As for Ringo in Shining Time Station - my oldest daughter absolutely adored it, and him, when she was a child. For that, all is forgiven.)

[ghostsofgiants]

13. I loved Shining Time Station too...

And it introduced me to George Carlin, as well.

[JVS]

14. Yeah, but you must admit that going from the Beatles to a kids' show...

is pretty much one of the biggest declines in showbusiness rank ever seen!

[Left Is Write]

17. That depends on your audience.

Ask the kids who remember him from STS, and they're likely to tell you differently.

Now, the movie Caveman? THAT'S a different story!

[JVS]

21. The Quality of gig is in the eyes of the performer, not the beholder

C'mon. Being a Beatle must have seriously kicked ass. Being Mr. Conductor must suck. Where are the screaming sex-crazed fans? The drugs? The getting to declare yourself bigger than Jesus?

[Left Is Write]

22. LOL! The Jesus thing was Lennon's gig, not Ringo's.

I can't claim to know Ringo's feelings about anything, but he probably wouldn't have taken the job if he didn't want it. It probably wasn't a "need the money" issue. Maybe he really likes kids and wanted to reach a new audience.

[JVS]

25. I've seen an interview where he blamed that job on his alcoholism

That's where he hit bottom.

[Left Is Write]

27. Well, if he says so.

Who am I to tell him he's wrong?

I wonder if he knows how many young adults loved him when they were children.

[muriel_volestrangler]

32. The man was in KISS. Reality TV was a step up for him (n/t)

[mr blur]

35. Believe me, if you never see any of "Rock School",

you're luckier than you'll ever know.

[Kat45]

45. Unfortunately, I did see some of "Rock School."

But even worse, on the same day and the same station, I saw "I Married Sebastian Bach." And Hulk Hogan's reality show. Plus Tommy Lee going back to school. It was a day of the worst of the worst reality TV, and like an accident, I couldn't help but watch.

[xmas74]

36. I have no problems w/ Ringo doing Shining Time.

I thought it was a nice move and that doing so was able to bridge generations together.
He may have had a drinking problem but most entertainers who do children's television do so as a choice-usually as a way to bring good programs to children(since Shining Time was an educational program).
Would you call every single actor, politician, writer and musician who appeared on Sesame Street a sell-out? I wouldn't.

[graywarrior]

2. Ted Nugent.

Not that he was ever a "rock star."

[tjdee]

3. NOBODY BETTER SAY BONO.

That's all.

Thank you.

[blockhead]

15. BONO

well I guess Sonny wasn't really a rock star....

[hfojvt]

33. Sonny?

He was supposed to be a hippie then he became an arch-conservative Senator.

[DS1]

4. Not so much sell-outs in the sense of marketing anything, but

NOBODY that I'm aware of has ripped off their fans (I stopped being one years ago) that Suicidal Tendencies. They've released some songs in "new" CDs up to 6 times, and most of the new CDs are just the last Greatest Hits CD in a different order. Truly pathetic.

[ET Awful]

8. Hell, I considered them sell-outs the second their music started

sounding like poorly rehashed heavy metal than like their original punk sound.

[DS1]

9. I don't get anything out of punk, so I was happy up through Lights,

Camera, Revolution, and even THAT was iffy. Very iffy.

[ET Awful]

10. The first time I remember thinking "wow these dudes suck now" was when

I heard the song "Pledge Your Allegiance".

[Initech]

5. Axl freaking Rose!

[graywarrior]

12. That poor bastard has addiction problems

in addition to a serious personality disorder.

[JVS]

19. That fuckwad was addicted alright! Addicted to not performing concerts...

or bailing out of them early. But when one is "God of Hair-Metal's Early Twilight Years", you can get away with stuff like that.

[graywarrior]

26. Ya but, doesn't he have an alcohol problem? Not that

that's an excuse. I heard something about Steve Tyler trying to help get him sober.

[Kat45]

44. I think Axl's bipolar.

That would explain his bizarre behavior, disappearances, etc. Too bad, because he had talent.

[ET Awful]

7. The remaining members of Jefferson Airplane that formed the travesty

known as Starship.

[kwassa]

23. This really preempts most other sellouts as the all time #1

Many classic rockers sell out when they can't fill stadiums anymore and have big lifestyles to pay for.

The Airplane jumped the gun on everyone, though, and thoroughly crushed their critical rep that had taken many years to build.

[ET Awful]

24. Anyone that can go from Volunteers to We Built this City

has severe issues.

[Robeson]

29. Yep, hard to top the Starship...

...that really set a standard.

[Horus45]

11. Lou Bega - Mambo # 5

It was like he knew "Mambo Number 5" was going to be his only hit song ever, so he sold rights to everyone that would buy it.

[JVS]

16. You can't fault a one hit wonder who knows he's going out for such a thing

It's the only smart thing to do. The outrage is when someone who has established themselves as a giant in music starts doing crap for a buck. Imagine Bette Midler introducing her own version of the George Foreman grill or something like that.

[Left Is Write]

18. Perish the thought!

Or R.E.M. cranking out radio-friendly pop songs! Oh...wait...never mind.

[AngryAmish]

20. Paul McCartney

Selling his HOME MOVIES to sell credit cards.

[nevergivein]

31. We expect too much of them

Except that when I think about it the reality is that ALL entertainers are just that; Entertainers. We put the expectation of be "pure" and "righteous" on them . All of them -- actors, rockers, athletes are there to entertain and to make money doing it. If they weren't doing it to make money they wouldn't be in the public eye, they'd be touring small venues and doing house parties and you would most likely never have heard of them.

Bono uses his rock fame to do something good and important in the world. That is a positive use of his deserved status as a rock star but it is not WHY he is a rock star. More of them should follow his lead instead of whining about their lives. If they want to get rich and be a commodity, that 's their business. As I said they are entertainers, nothing more, nothing less. Now if social justice, human rights activists start making ads for Coke and Exxon and American Express ---that's selling out!!

[JVS]

37. Welcome to DU, but BULLSHIT!

When someone has enough money to personally lauch a coup in a medium sized African country to put himself in charge of it, and I have no doubt that McCartney has that much money, then he shouldn't be selling his home movies to make commercials. Now I can see the whole kiss crusty plutocrat butt thing that Bono has to do, and that's OK. But seriously, if Elvis were alive today and making commercials for Jimmy Dean sausage, it would be obscene. Unless of course he were totally washed up and then there is an element of redmption and "behind the music" coolness to the selling out

[CatholicEdHead]

28. All of Metallica

[kwassa]

30. I'm waiting for the White Stripes to do Target ads

Matching color schemes.

[tjdee]

38. That would be the BESSSSSSTT.

Just because the colors match so nice.

[mitchum]

34. Henry Rollins...

okay he was never really a "star", but he was in freakin' Black Flag! Also he's ALWAYS ran around proclaiming his "integrity" while doing Gap ads, appearing in Hollywood dreck, boasting about doing Merrill Lynch voiceovers, and stinking up cable channels. Fucking incredible. He is just a detestable, posturing ass.

[HuskerDU]

39. Can't decide between Metallica and Henry Rollins.

What I thought of them 20 years ago, and what I think of them now are the exact opposite.

[mitchum]

46. It is a tough decision, isn't it?

[otohara]

40. Paul McCartney - Fidelity Finance

What a disgusting ad - like all of us can be like "Sir Paul" if only we had a fucking gazillion dollars.

[LostinVA]

41. Garth Brooks - Yeah, Garth Brooks

Because, as much as he makes believe he is country, he thinks he's a rock star.

[LeftyMom]

43. Well he was a marketing major, so selling out seems a bit redundant. nt

[Inspired]

42. What does sell out REALLY mean?

If an artist tries to make money, has a hit single, does anything other than play for peanuts in taverns does that mean they are a sell out?

[RFKHumphreyObama]

47. Joe Cocker

He gave permission to our right wing neo-con Bush-loving government in Australia to use his song "Unchain My Heart" for their advertising campaign -which wasted billions of dollars of taxpayers money -to sell the new consumption tax they were implementing. To his credit, he later realized what he'd done and withdrew his permission but those of us who were against this government were decidedly unimpressed

[MrSlayer]

48. METALLICA, hands down.

The biggest sellouts ever. They disgust me.