No way! Way: Pop icons Prince, Madonna and Jackson turn 50

Commentary |

Prince just blew out 50 candles on a birthday cake.

The stack-heeled pop star marked his half-century June 7. He'll be followed by contemporaries dancing past the milestone: Madonna reaches 50 on Aug. 16, and Michael Jackson on Aug. 29.

Rock is aging fast. Neil Diamond, 67, recently became the oldest performer to have a No. 1 record, "Home Before Dark," in the U.S. He beat 2006's "Modern Times" by Bob Dylan, then 65 and facing gibes ("Bob Zimmerframe") similar to those leveled at Led Zeppelin ("Stairlift to Heaven"), Paul McCartney ("When I'm 64") and the Who's Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend ("hope I die before I get old").

Even the younger generation, as we might call Prince et al., must be painfully aware that pop is mainly about adolescence: rites of passage, first loves and rebellion. The birthday boys and girl had their greatest success in the 1980s.

Jazz or blues stars can benefit from the polish of age, while it has tarnished most rockers apart from Neil Young. They should act their age or just f-f-f-fade away, as the Who once sang.

While Mick Jagger is still in good voice, the wrinkled 64-year-old British knight is starting to look silly prancing around in Lycra while calling for revolution. Madonna trains hard to stay in shape and wears dominatrix gear, which isn't quite becoming for a married gentlewoman.

All three class-of-'58ers have sought to ignore aging and just follow their desires, even if they do get a tad eccentric.

Madonna may see the irony of "Like a Virgin" while Prince has wisely abandoned his see-through pants. Jackson's sequined glove is taking an extended vacation. Jackson may stage a comeback, though his audience probably wants to hear his old hits, not new songs.

The three were such big names that it's hard to imagine them performing for geriatrics on the supper-club circuit. Prince's London gigs last year drew plenty of teenagers as well as some of their parents. Contrast that with concerts by the Eagles and Cliff Richard, whose audience has simply grown older with their idols.

The trio might take lessons from Britain's Paul Weller, who just marked his 50th birthday with one of his best CDs in decades.

Whatever their wild excesses, all three are survivors, so there is no amazement factor as there is with, say, the elegantly wasted Keith Richards or Iggy Pop making it to 60.

I want rock stars to be, in the words of Dylan, "forever young." These middle-agers might not be as cool as they once were. Yet they may boost their trendiness again if they succeed in enfranchising the voice of 50-somethings in popular music.

Let's keep listening. Try an Internet search for "Madonna's 50th Birthday Countdown Clock," and wish them all 50 more.