Musicians come in many shapes and sizes, yet there is a definite pop star stereotype – thin and pallid, undernourished to the point of emaciation. No-one’s quite sure if this comes from years of suffering for their art or just doing an awful lot of ‘slimming pills’.
Actually, that’s not as unlikely as it sounds, having recently seen an old video of Here’Say’s manager berating the band (including now-actress Michelle out of Corrie) for being too fat to go on stage.
It takes an awful lot of talent to get over a nation’s obsession with looks and even then there’s a nagging suspicion that more generously upholstered stars are there thanks in part due to some sort of novelty factor.
Of course, the first real rock star was, as befits a matinee idol, a lean snake-hipped sex machine. Sadly, Elvis piled on the pounds until he was around the same size as Mama Cass, and left the building pretty much the same way.
On that tack, I note that it’s National Sandwich Day in the USA, where the King’s most celebrated snack – a loaf stuffed with a pound of bacon plus peanut butter and banana – is still iconic. When Presley touched down at Prestwick Airport – his only UK visit ever – we can only assume he was getting his sarnie deep-fried.
By way of culinary contrast, in the UK it’s National Vegan Month. Now, I’m not suggesting that we’re all that much better than our cousins across the pond (in fact, we have a whole week devoted to sandwiches later next year, and these may well come in batter). In fact, although you’d imagine that your average pallid popster – yes, Morrissey, as per usual – was a typical example, the profile of a vegan musician is varied. Sure, Coldplay and Thom Yorke – serious types with lyrics that show they spend too much time in touch with their inner feelings – are avowed veggies.
But those also eschewing animal products include Steve Wonder, Kraftwerk, Shirley Manson, Mick Jagger, Cheryl Cole, Phil Collins and Meatloaf (yes) which all give the lie to that stereotype. Or take Jason Mraz, who owns an avocado farm, or Rob Zombie, who as a judge on a US TV show demanded that the contestants “make vegan taste good”.
In fact, it’s musicians in the latter’s musical genre that are the most prolific and radical meat-dodgers – most, like Black Sabbath’s Geezer Butler are PETA activists, though Metallica’s Kirk Hammett is on the salad for purely health reasons and has no problem with bandmate James Hetfield’s love of hunting. So whether they’re likely to share a tourbus with bands like Cattle Decapitation, Carcass and Napalm Death is another matter, all being strictly vegetarian–though whether people are also off the menu isn’t clear. Mind you, as Morrissey (aye, him again) once said: “I can smell burning flesh– I hope to god it’s human!”
