Current Chart-Toppers Who Will Have Longevity

[Kelly Frank]

OK, with Donna Summer dropping a new album this week, The B-52's and Madonna both with recent albums out, and Chér playing Caeser's after her 200th "farewell" tour. What current popular artists do you think will still be around in ten years? And I mean still producing hits, not just milking fans for their Social Security checks. My choices... I'm going to go with the ladies and say P!nk and Kelly Clarkson. Both have had strong hits throughout most of the current decade, also showing a variety in their styles to keep things stirred up. And to add to this, who do you think will also still be around milking their fans for their social security checks. These would be people not doing extra work to revive themselves - just singing the same old songs at pricey concerts and re-re-re-re-releasing compilations of the same. My choice for that... Chér.

[Dennis Willis]

Ten years is a loooooooooong time...

Pink and Kelly Clarkson are good choices, but i think you're right. The ladies have always had an easier time with longevity (wonder why that is...)

My choices:
-Rihanna: She seems built to last and has a good half dozen hits behind her, manages to be cute and sexy, has a voice AND performed with Morris Day and the Time!
-Madonna: Hate to say it, but there is no reason why a 60-year old Madonna won't continue to reinvent the wheel. In the 00's alone, she has released four albums and as many world tours. And let's face it: 4 Minutes is an awesome song.
-Alicia Keys: Beautiful, sassy, immensely respected and talented. Scratch that...we could extend this list to 20 years and she'd still be on it.
-Amy Winehouse: Honestly, she has to get clean and that's no easy task. But if she can manage to stay alive (no joke), she's got forty years and a killer biopic waiting for her. If she can't, she'll join Janis in that great juke joint in the sky.
-Christina Aguilera: Classy and slutty, and she can go from pop to hip-hop to jazz standards without missing a beat.

Collecting Checks:
-Celine Dion: Nobody cares but the blue hairs NOW, and in ten years it will be the same.
-Carlos Santana: Wait, isn't he doing that now?
-Will.I.Am: His schtick is already wearing thin. By 2018, it will just be embarrassing.
-Stevie Wonder: I love 'ol Stevie but he really is just one album away from a Carlos Santana tribute/lovefest and there really is no return from that, is there?
-Outkast: Sure, the boys may not really like each other right now and have stalled Outkast, but once Andre and Big Boi realize nobody gives a crap about their weirdo solo projects, they'll do that reunion pop album and hits tour.
-N*Sync: Now that NKOTB has reassembled, all it's gonna take is for the world to wake up and realize that Justin Timberlake isn't the Massive Pop Star his handlers have tried to convince us he is.

And now, a third wrinkle -- current chart toppers who will have disappeared from the pop culture map despite massive success today:

-Usher: Good looking kid, awesome dancer, shitty music. And in the end, all we have are the songs. If Usher doesn't diversify his portfolio, he'll be joining Boyz II Men on a tour of county fairs around the world soon.
-Miley Cyrus: Ten years is about as long as it will take for her to become a bigger star, want to "grow up," release something provocative, get caught in a compromising position, attempt a "bold" comeback, attempt a "clean" comeback with the best producers (and concurrent reality show), then just become an actress full-time.
-Britney Spears: Insert your own joke here.
-Jonas Brothers and any other Disney machine act.
-Beyonce: Something tells me she will try desperate to remain "relevant," as opposed to allow herself to grow up musically. The results will not be pretty. Just look at Janet Jackson's career.

[Cabernet]

I don't know how much relevant input I have, since I consider Britney and Christina Aguilera brand new to the scene, and I've never even listened to Amy Winehouse, though I did see her disturbing pic in a bikini in a gossip mag. Keep yer clothes on, Girl!

I can say that men have showed serious longevity in the music biz. Maybe Santana has been collecting checks, but he thows out a beaut every now and then, and for many years now. Billy Joel, don't get me started- I love him, cranked out volumes of stuff for 30 years or so, before he sunk to rehashing all of it out on Broadway. And maybe you've heard of a little Irish band called U2? Not doing too badly, for geezers from the emerald isle. I can say the same about the Rolling Stones longevity, oh, what a little infusion will do for you!

We can't possibly talk about collecting checks without topping the "collectors" list with Barry Manilow. He's got a friggin' concert of his hits airing on PBS, now!

And as for a younger generation of check collectors: Jewell.
And as for the ongoing chart toppers: Red Hot Chili Peppers.

[Dennis Willis]

Excellent, Cab!

I know this is gonna sound blasphemous but (in my humble opinion) the Chili Peppers had maybe three good original songs, two kickass remakes and a loooooooooot of filler. It's just more proof that a lot of attitude at the beginning of a career can buy a lot of goodwill later on when the fartknocker phase begins...and for Flea and company, that was around 1995.