It’s 2025 and The Rolling Stones are still rockin’ out 63 years after they formed.
Sir Paul McCartney, now 82, sang The Beatles in front of a 20,000 London O2 audience in December.
Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks, 76, filled out and lit up Hyde Park last summer, Annie Lennox is living her Sweet Dreams on stage at 70, and Diana Ross is still singing I’m Coming Out in her 2025 tour.
Anyone sensing a theme?
Why, when most of us are clamming to retire in our 60s, can musicians not put the kettle on, hang up their mics and say with absolute certainty that their performing days are behind them?
(We’re talking about the big music dogs here – where financial gain is not a motivation for touring into their 80s…)
It’s not a job – but a vocation
The trend is not just because music is a ‘fun’ job – it goes deeper than that, according to Boo Radleys lead singer and chartered psychologist Dr Simon Rowbottom.
Dr Simon is still touring with the Wake Up Boo! hitmakers 33 years after they formed – so he would know.
The Music Industry Therapist Collective’s ‘resident rockstar psychologist’ tells Metro: ‘There’s a huge amount of enjoyment that is very, very important for people.
‘I think it is something deep, something extraordinarily deep about music. We’re the only species that creates music, and I think there is something incredibly psychologically important about it.
‘It gives us a real sense of calm. It gives us a sense of excitement. It gives us a sense of creativity. It gives us a way to express emotion. So I think even though people like me can step away from the public face of music for a while, we never really step away from music,’ he says.
‘Music is something that is in your soul for life.’
Tasmin Embleton, a specialist music industry psychotherapist who founded the Music Industry Therapist collective, agrees.
‘Being a musician is more of a vocation than a job,’ she says, adding: ‘For many, that calling or creative urge doesn’t end as you age, or as musical trends change.’
The spotlight fills a psychological hole
Embleton explains how performance acts like a flattering mirror for musicians, where the audience reflects their best selves.
‘If performance is where you feel most like yourself, or most like a version of yourself you like and feel is worthy of love, you will have a strong motivation to keep on performing,’ she explains.
‘The spotlight meets a need in certain musicians. It fills a hole, it fills a need that they have to feel a sense of worth, a sense of self esteem,’ Dr Simon says, caveating that this isn’t the case with every musician.
‘But I think for a lot of musicians there is a search for a sense of validation; even adoration.
‘There is definitely something to be said about what happens when these disappear – how somebody can feel depressed, purposeless, and that they don’t have value anymore.
‘I think it’s a vital thing to consider for musicians’ mental health when they step away from the limelight – or worse, are forced to step away from that kind of limelight. Where do they get that sense of worth from when the audiences are no longer there?’
Musicians are more prone to mental health problems
Research has shown that people working in the music industry are more prone to mental health problems than the general population, with musicians being up to three times more likely to suffer from depression, according to Mind.
An altered state of consciousness and creative ‘flow’
‘Performing can facilitate highly pleasurable “flow” states where you feel fully immersed in the task at hand, feel present, have a sense of mastery and lose self-consciousness,’ explains Embleton.
‘If you are lucky enough to have a “peak” experience on stage, then you might feel a profound high and experience an altered state of consciousness.’
Heightened awareness could also be achieved, where senses sharpen like when colour looks more vivid, which is an addictive feeling.
What is a ‘flow state’ in psychology?
A ‘flow state’ is a mental state in which a person is completely engrossed in a single task or activity.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, an influential figure in positive psychology, coined the term, which is also described as ‘being in the zone’.
Tasks that encourage a flow state have a few characteristics: they are challenging, but not impossible, and rewarding.
Signs you are in ‘flow’ include being totally focused, not thinking about yourself, and enjoying the activity in tasks such as sports, games, reading, creative hobbies, or even gardening.
While in a state of flow, the world fades away and nothing else seems to matter.
All this adds up to a ‘collective joy’ orgasm
‘The rapturous ecstasy of peak experiences can be induced by orgasms, drug use and experiences of “collective joy” such as concerts and religious experiences,’ says Embleton.
‘So physically, and due to the personal and social reasons mentioned previously, it can lead you to craving being on stage.’
What is a ‘peak experience’ in psychology?
Peak experiences are the most wonderful experiences of your life – moments of total ecstacy, which conjure a sense of awe, wonder, or amazement.
These 80-year-old rockers are exceptionally lucky
‘I don’t think it’s an advisable career path,’ says Dr Simon. ‘I would be concerned about young people going into it.’
‘Probably not, no,’ agrees Embleton, when asked if a career in music is good for mental health. ‘Not everyone suffers, but many people do. That’s why we advise psychological support from as early as possible.
‘While we know that making music is therapeutic, the conditions of working in the music business are not conducive to good health. This is widely accepted by the business.’
One of the reasons Embleton set up the Music Industry Therapist Collective was to provide support for musicians at every stage in their careers, which can often be turbulent, ever-changing and short-lived.
‘Many are dropped suddenly from contracts or leave the industry without a sense of what to do next, what skills are transferrable and what else they might be good at,’ she says.
‘As their careers are so tightly tied to their sense of self, this rejection can be devastating, leaving them with shame which may need to be worked through in order to move on and reinvent oneself away from the music business.
‘So in some ways, those who can work into their 60s are the lucky ones.’
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