Are Bands Dead?

Adam Levine from Maroon 5 says bands are dead. I watched the 2021 Grammys. The only group I recall was BTS, which is not a band. So is Adam right? Does it matter? What is a band?

A band is a collaboration. Being in one is consuming. A real band lives together, drinks together, struggles together, fights, fucks, laughs. It’s intense. And out of the crucible comes music.

Fans of bands buy into a complex storyline. Relationships, breakups, friendships. Watching a band onstage is watching a shifting, moving puzzle, all the parts coming together in rare expression.

When it works it’s life-affirming. A great show unites all parts of the band, and reaches out to forge bonds with the audience. We all become part of the band.

Some artists need collaboration to fly. Lennon needs McCartney. Mick needs Keith. Some bands are solo acts in disguise. But all bands are collaborative art. And the best bands create music that can only be created in collaboration. So are there no new bands?

As a veteran band member and life-long musician, I have ideas about it, and I agree with Adam Levine at least about this: We don’t live in a band world.

Band dreams take sacrifice. Musical ROI has been eaten by corporate machines like Spotify. Internet has drawn and quartered the music industry. Streaming is death to…