Definitive. It’s a term regularly bandied around in music circles – you know, the definitive line-up of a certain band, the definitive festival set, the definitive guitar riff. Well, it’s time to thrash some of these out once and for all and stick a few flags in the soil. Let’s start with a simple one – as if a consensus is ever going to be easy.
Who is the definitive rock star? And why? What does it take? Maybe you think it’s Liam Gallagher with his wide-legged swagger and rasping yowl, or Mick Jagger throwing his fleshless bones around the stage for more than half a century. Or perhaps it’s Karen O, all blazes of colour and restless activity, inhabiting every song she performs, or Alex Turner, growing into the role with every album.
And what about Kurt Cobain, with his great rock voice laying out his demons, or Jehnny Beth, the rock star for a new generation? It doesn’t even have to be a singer. It could be Keith Richards, the louche rock guitarist par excellence, or someone like Dave Grohl who has combined everything.
Hell, maybe it’s Kanye West – he says rappers are the new rock stars and he’s the biggest one of them all.
Being the definitive rock star isn’t just about the way you sing or the way you play guitar. It’s also about the way you carry yourself, what you mean to your fans, what you’ve done. So who encapsulates all that for you? Let us know in the comments below, or on Facebook or with the hashtag #definitive on Twitter. We’ll get to the bottom of this.
