Acts that came to prominence when their members were in their 30s or 40s?

Inspired by a Facebook chat with a few Ilxors earlier today, it seems it's less common for a band or artist to achieve recognition past their twenties. We cited a number of examples of artists who were dropped by their label or considered washed-up as early as 22 years old. There are also lots of examples of artists spending time in a career wilderness during their 30s and 40s, only to come back a lot later as 'elder statesmen' with renewed interest from fans and journos.

What are some examples of acts that broke it big during this time of their lives?

Pet Shop Boys
Phil Collins solo

Blondie.

Flaming Lips.

Only being a peripheral fan, I literally had no idea about Underworld's 80s synthrock career pre-Dubnobasswithmyheadman until today.

Ian Dury

Sun Ra

Future Islands

Tina Turner...maybe? Depends on how famous you think she was in the sixties and seventies (answer: not as famous as you think). When 1983 rolled around, she was GIGANTIC.

DJ Rashad (RIP)

Leonard Cohen (as a songwriter)

Future Islands is such a great example of a band who slogged it out for years and years before becoming an unexpected sensation overnight.

Meredith Brooks

Alan Vega was 39 or something when the first Suicide album came out.

probably the national

Rebirth Brass Band won a Grammy after being together for 30 years.

I remember being surprised when I found out that Alex Kapranos from Franz Ferdinand was already in his 30s when their first record came out, Guy Chadwick from The House of Love as well, I think Chadwick shaved a few years off his real age for a time though? Quite a few people who are bit coy about this

Future islands are a sensation now? When did that happen?

Alex Harvey as well maybe, thinking of Scottish people named Alex, I guess he already had some fame pre-SAHB though?

Ian Hunter was in his 30s when Mott the Hoople first got popular

After they appeared on Letterman. xxp

Elbow
Pulp
Richard Hawley

tbh this happens a lot more with genres outside rock and pop e.g. folk, blues, jazz, 'world music' etc

Future islands are a sensation now? When did that happen?

― Knob Dicks (wins), Wednesday, June 25, 2014 4:37 PM (49 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Letterman -> viral Youtube videos -> features in many mainstream publications, I'd say it's a turnaround for an unknown indie-pop band.

Jet Black from the Stranglers, who is 76 later this year

Shania Twain just squeaks in here by being 30 by the time The Woman In Me went mega bonkers sales-wise.

er, can we mention Susan Boyle?

Huh, missed all of that xps

I'd say it's a turnaround for an unknown indie-pop band.

known enough to sign to 4AD and get the PR to book Letterman, but yeah.

"Sonic Youth" was always a somewhat ironic name. Kim Gordon turned 30 the year that Confusion Is Sex was released. Depending on your standard, the band arguably didn't really "come to prominence" until later. If releasing a major-label album is the criterion, Steve Shelley was the only member under 30 when Goo was released in 1990.

Al Stewart was 31 when Year of the Cat went platinum, he'd been around since the late '60s but at nothing like that level of success

a lot of legacy 80s indie rock/punk/post punk bands got a big bump in popularity in the mid 90s, post Nirvana...bands like Dinosaur Jr, Sonic Youth, Meat Puppets, etc

I had always sorta assumed that Steely Dan were one of these acts until I found out that Walter Becker had only just turned 30 when Gaucho was released

Kind of a special case and an elastic definition of "broke it big", but Jandek.

Toni Basil!

George Clinton was in his late 30s by the time P-funk blew up

wins: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ee4bfu_t3c

Guided By Voices, all or most of whom were in their mid/late 30s when Bee Thousand came out

Bill Withers

bob seger (31 the year both night moves and live bullet came out)

cyndi lauper turned 30 the year SHE'S SO UNUSUAL came out

bonnie raitt

sheryl crow was 31 the year TUESDAY NIGHT MUSIC CLUB came out

Looks like no one came to prominence in their 40s then.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2ur063fMhs

(b. May 28, 1944)

charlie rich, discovered by pop radio in 1973, at age 40

Future Islands guy projects full-on "I've waited 10 years for this and I'm not going to blow it" vibes.

I know Ivor Cutler (b 1923) had already been appearing on the radio since the late 50s, I think he became more well known in the late 60s following his association with the Beatles and John Peel, though? (Or just known to a different audience?)

Dory Previn?

robin thicke

The Hold Steady (thirties), Sleaford Mods (forties).

Shawn Colvin was 41 when Sunny Came Home became a hit.

Marnie Stern (31 when she released her first album)

MIA is 39 today, holy shit.

So, she was 29 yrs, 8 mos when Arular came out. Close enough.

She first came into prominence with "Galang" though, a couple of years before Arular came out. Or at least that's how I first heard about her, when people here at ILM were bigging up "Galang".

it was still her debut album, and on a major in the US - that beats a (better) mixtape and ILM chatter tbf.

"prominence" for mia either = 'galang' (crit love, internet stardom) or 'paper planes' (actual stardom, sales, tv)

Deana Carter (30 when "Strawberry Wine" hit).

Sarah McLachlan just misses the cutoff by about 6 months with Surfacing.

2 chainz claims he's 31 but is probably 35 (see fader profile by noz)
Tuneyards is 34 or something

I'm uncomfortable with the fact that I find this thread comforting

isn't fumbling towards ecstasy her breakthru? surfacing is when she briefly became a megastar but she was having hits - 'possession', 'i will remember you' - before that.

he'd had minor hits before then, but Rick Springfield didn't have his biggest US hit until he was 32.

also, Martin Page was never huge and really only had a brief moment, but "In the House of Stone and Light", which did well on the adult contemporary charts (our local station loved it, even though it sounded Sting-lite to me), came out when he was 35. it was from his debut album too.

also, Goo Goo Dolls had been plugging away for years and had minor alt rock hits, but didn't have a big (crossover) hit ("Name") that cemented them as popular until 1995, when Johnny Rzeznick was about 9 months shy of 30, and bass player Robby Takac was already 30.

isn't fumbling towards ecstasy her breakthru? surfacing is when she briefly became a megastar but she was having hits - 'possession', 'i will remember you' - before that.

FTE was kind of a niche singer-songwriter hit -- 2.8 million per Wikipedia -- but Surfacing was mega -- 16 million, #2 US Billboard, two top 5 singles, countless soundtracks.

And it transformed her from a farty, randy goth into a gauzy ASPCA Ur-mother figure.

imo this topic is only interesting if we're talking about people who had no public profile at all until their '30s or something. really huge number of acts plugged away with minor renown through their 20s and then peaked after 30, not that remarkable. but like, Mark Sandman turned 40 the month Morphine released its first album. that's interesting.

also a personally inspiring topic to me, as a 32-year-old who just sent his first album off for mastering.

Three of the four members of The Church were in their thirties by the time they finally scored an international hit (with Under the Milky Way).

i think the shins fit some dude's criterion; new slang was written when dude was 30 and still based in like Albuquerque or whatever

Joe Cocker always *sounded* like he was in his 70s

so is it fairer to say that "inspiration" or "peak creativity" have a half-life, or that they are more or less fixed to your age?

the dude from Protomartyr everyone likes to describe as "middle class / working guy / disheveled accountant / etc" is 36-38 (can't remember) and had never been in a band before this. just got to know those other guys, started attending their practices and rambling to their songs, and, boom, indie star.

not sure if someone mentioned him upthread but some dude's refocus (which i agree with) reminded me of him.

Keep forgetting that Martha Davis (of The Motels) started as a working musician in 1971. She was 31 when "Only The Lonely" and "Take The L" became hits.

and that reminds me of robin lane, who started working as a musician in the late '60s, and was 32 or 33 when robin lane & the chartbusters' debut album came out. they weren't as prominent as the motels, but they were a major label band who were a big deal in the northeast at least and were getting mtv play. (the 11th video ever shown on mtv, according to the internet.)

I recall around 2004/2005-ish finding it interesting that almost all of my favorite rock bands from that era were in their thirties. Of Montreal, Spoon, MF Doom and Queens of the Stone Age all had earlier releases, but they weren't really on my radar until they were older musicians.

Keep forgetting that Martha Davis (of The Motels) started as a working musician in 1971. She was 31 when "Only The Lonely" and "Take The L" became hits.

29 when Total Control was a hit though

I thought Seasick Steve would be the first name on the thread. He was in his 60s.

― Robert Adam Gilmour, Wednesday, June 25, 2014 7:55 PM (two years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

He's just about over sixty now.

Lemmy was 30-something when Motorhead started becoming a big deal. Which is pretty inspiring if you're a 20-something who's accomplished nothing

yeah, but he'd been the bassist in hawkwind during his mid-to-late twenties, and was the vocalist on 'silver machine', their biggest chart hit

so i guess it's inspiring if you're a twentysomething who's already enjoyed success and would like to go on to achieve even more in your thirties

He's just about over sixty now.

75 according to Wikipedia. Apropos of nothing much, I saw him outside a restaurant in Malmo a few weeks ago - eating not playing guitar.

I thought Seasick Steve would be the first name on the thread. He was in his 60s.

― Robert Adam Gilmour, Wednesday, June 25, 2014 7:55 PM (two years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

He's just about over sixty now.

― Mark G, Thursday, September 29, 2016 11:14 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah, just reading this about him on the Guardian - https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2016/sep/29/seasick-steve-session-musician-ramblin-man-book

I usually could not give less of a shit about (ugh) "authenticity" - but watching his breakthrough clip from 2008 with the knowledge that he's a session musician and not in any way a former hobo, can't help but find it massively insulting, both to the audience and to actual homeless people. Why did people ever fall for this bullshit?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNoPNC3ebYQ

I think Daevid Allen was well into his 30s when Gong got going.

Cast King

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gzIeHe-wz4

Joseph Spence

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alfqX3WRJP0

Re Daevid Allen - he formed both Soft Machine and Gong before his 30th birthday, though you could say their best known work was done when he was in his mid-30s.

maybe; Lonnie Johnson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8fyb9vpIc0

why not indulge......inappropriately?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxze3nn_z3E&index=4&list=PLVxivsPLLXBCkjsCw78vzpcxm7OhIEu95
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QIjYQYNezY

I'm uncomfortable with the fact that I find this thread comforting
― unknown pleasure zone (uptown churl), Saturday, July 19, 2014 10:37 AM (two years ago)

for some reason I thought Jim Croce didn't get into music until his 30´s, but I checked and actually he died at 30 :(

There's a bit of chat on the web casting doubt on the reliability of this new Seasick Steve biog. Interested parties can read up for themselves but suffice to say that I wouldn't necessarily take everything Bob Stanley says in that Guardian article (via the biog) to be 100% accurate.

Cap'n Save-a-Hobo

lol I didn't know much of anything about this but the wikipedia talk page for Steve is a fun place

http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/reluctant-icon/Content?oid=6010

So if a guy has to pretend that among other things he's 10 years older than he really is, does it prove that there's an 'uncool dad/mom' period for musicians roughly between the ages of 35-50 where they stop being taken seriously and just have to ride it out until they're pension-age and can cast themselves as roguish elder states-people? I'm thinking about the big-hitters of my youth - people like Damon Albarn and Stephen Malkmus whose cred seems to be at an all-time low at the moment, but I'm sure will bounce back in about 10 years' time.

would that be the Albarn with a music group that has a new tour coming up

I don't think anyone has to pretend they're older necessarily it's just:
- studio guy wishes he could get back to the basics
- Jack White, bunch of other acts make blues riffs and back-to-basics production cool
- guy adds a decade to his age to make it seem like he was an unknown, broke contemporary of people from the age people in younger acts think were cool
- profit!

it's easier to add years than remove them from your age typically, although people do the latter all the time

I think there are probably more acts coming to prominence in their 30s than we think of, mostly because of the age deflation that goes on.

Sia's entire public image is more of an artistic statement but at least a small part of her incognito act is due to her not wanting to put her face/age/etc out as the defining characteristic of her music

I just learned Sturgill Simpson is 41 and was in his mid 30s when Metamodern came out

The B-52s. I was surprised to learn (in this Pitchfork piece) that Kate Pierson was born in 1948, had been a full-on hippie, etc. (Though the other band members are older; Fred Schneider seems to be second-oldest surviving member, born in 1951). So some of them were just scraping 30 when they formed the band, and Pierson & Schneider were both around 40 (give or take a few years) when Cosmic Thing broke big.

*though the other band members are younger...

Debbie Harry was 36 when "Rapture" came out