absence makes the heart grow fonder: a discussion on respecting artists’ decisions to take time away
credit: Maxwell by Margaret C. Norton; D’Angelo by Paul Natkin; Steve Perry by Daniel Larson
Longevity and perseverance are widely celebrated in most industries. This is the case even more so in the music industry. Because of the many artists who quickly rise to fame and are quickly forgotten, it is considered quite the achievement to remain a constant player in the industry.
The music business is and always has been a taxing industry for artists. Historically, artists were never intended to profit or become financially successful from their work. The focus has always been on garnering revenue for record executives and the labels they work for.
The demanding nature of the industry often requires a lot of sacrifice from artists. From extensive tours, traveling daily, working through pain and illness (both mental and physical, which are equally difficult to experience, let alone work through) to having privacy compromised due to fame. Being an artist of a certain caliber takes a toll on the mind and the body.
Being a part of such a strenuous industry can lead to mental health struggles that can drive an individual into a place of darkness. The vast range of difficulties that align with being an artist cause those involved in the industry to seek refuge from the pain, sometimes, in ways that lead to their demise.
For artists who reach a peak of popularity and success beyond their wildest dreams, it can be equally exciting and daunting; especially upon realizing exactly what maintaining that status, fame and relevance requires. Relevance and popularity are often fleeting in the music industry; an artist can find themselves at the top of the charts for one week and at the bottom the following week.
This is just the nature of the industry. To avoid becoming a flash in the pan, or what is often referred to as a “one hit wonder”, artists must commit to a life that revolves around maintaining their viability by staying present.
The inherent desire to create and share music comes from a pure place. It’s the sacrificial aspects of the business that can strip away the childlike passion that once planted the seed for the desire to share art. This side of the music industry deters many artists from participating, driving them to walk away from the music industry.
I am so deeply inspired by artists who make the difficult and unpopular decision to walk away from the music industry, whether permanently or just for a period of time. The courage and dedication to oneself this kind of decision requires is admirable. As music connoisseurs, we rely so heavily on music as a source of entertainment, joy and inspiration. Understandably, this may cause a struggle to accept this course of action from the artists we love.
Because of the all-consuming cycle of “album, tour, repeat” many artists slowly grow accustomed to ignoring their need for breaks or time away from working towards the continual output of material for their labels. Those who do make the decision to step back and take a break are questioned and often fail to be understood by the public. It’s an act that sometimes confuses fans. What fascinates me is not what artists choose to do in their downtime, but how they find the courage to make such a decision.
There are a few favorite artists of mine who come to mind when the topic of taking a break from the music industry comes up. These are artists who intentionally walked away at the height of their success for a variety of reasons personal to them. By highlighting them in this discussion, I hope to not only emphasize my admiration for the courage it took for them to make this decision, but underline the value of taking breaks.
Maxwell
People failed to realize that when you’re living such a hyper, super reality of a life, where you’re just doing shows and you’re on TV and you’re talking to this magazine, that doesn’t bode well for trying to talk about everyday stuff that hopefully you’ll connect with people on. So a lot of my absence was based on just going out to get life experience, you know. Becoming a guy, becoming a man. I’m 35 years old now. In your 20s you’re just a sketch of what you think you’re trying to be. – Maxwell, Associated Press (2008)
Maxwell’s output of music between the mid-nineties early 2000s was prolific. His debut album, Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite was released in April 1996. Four singles were released from this album including “Ascension (Don’t Ever Wonder)” and “Sumthin’ Sumthin’.”
Two years later, Maxwell released his sophomore album, Embrya, which carried a more alternative and eccentric sound, displaying a different side of his artistry. The two singles released from his sophomore effort were “Luxury: Cococure” and “Matrimony: Maybe You.”
Three years later, in August 2001, Maxwell released his third album Now, which featured “Lifetime”, a huge hit for him. Three albums in the span of three years is a healthy output for an artist, especially for an artist like Maxwell that only releases quality material (with zero features in his discography, might I add).
When Maxwell’s debut album was released, he was only 22 years old. It’s shocking to look back and realize just how young he was during that time. Maxwell is a sophisticated artist with music to match, but he was still a young man likely still figuring out exactly who he was. To be going through that process all while putting in the work to nurture a budding career as an artist (especially in the 1990s when the success of artists was contingent on means outside of social media presence) had to be a lot on him.
Whenever I remember the facts of Maxwell’s early career, it always makes perfect sense to me why he felt the need to take some time away after releasing three albums in the span of six years. It wouldn’t be until 2009 that Maxwell would release his fourth studio album BLACKsummers’night, the first album of the trilogy.
Another 7 years later, in 2016, he released part two of the trilogy, blackSUMMERS’night. Fans (including myself) are still awaiting Maxwell’s next album, blacksummers’NIGHT (aka NIGHT), the third and final part of the trilogy.
When it comes to Maxwell, I have always said “Whenever he’s ready to give us an album, I’ll be ready!” Truthfully, I would LOVE if that would be sooner than later; in the meantime, I am continuing to excitedly anticipate his next album while enjoying the beautiful music he’s already blessed us with. My love for Maxwell is unwavering, he is an ideal artist for me! I can’t wait to experience his next album.
D’Angelo
When I got back home, yeah, it wasn't that easy to just be. I think that's the thing that got me in a lot of trouble: me trying to just be Michael, the regular old me from back in the day, and me fighting that whole sex-symbol thing. You know: ‘Hey, I ain't D'Angelo today. I'm just plain old Mike, and I just want to hang out with my boys and do what we used to do.' But, damn, those days are fucking gone. — D’Angelo, GQ Magazine (2014)
D’Angelo, infamously, is no stranger to taking time away from the public eye in between his albums. He does things in his own time, which is one of the many reasons why I have a high amount of respect for him as an artist. His debut album, Brown Sugar, was released in July 1995. From this album, four singles were released, including “Brown Sugar” and “Cruisin’.” This album solidified D’Angelo as one of the major players and pioneers of the neo-soul movement within the genre of R&B.
It wouldn’t be until five years later that D’Angelo would release his sophomore album, Voodoo, an album that is sonically darker and moodier than its mid-90s predecessor. This album showcased a different side of D’Angelo as an artist. At the 43rd Grammy Awards, D’Angelo won for Best R&B album, further solidifying Voodoo as a major contribution to the music scene of the 2000s and beyond. The influence of Voodoo is still heard over 20 years after its release.
“Untitled (How Does It Feel)” was one of four singles released from Voodoo. This song is a favorite of both the casual and dedicated fan. It’s a vocally beautiful, equally spiritually and provocatively driven offering from D’Angelo. Apart from D’Angelo’s unbelievably evocative vocal performance, it’s the infamy of the accompanying music video that most people discuss when it comes to this track.
The music video was directed by Paul Hunter and Dominique Trenier. The impact the music video had on the public perception of D’Angelo was tremendous. The sexualization had a negative effect on him and his relationship with the public.
This is expanded upon in his GQ Magazine article from 2014:
The shoot took six hours, and it changed D's life. Trenier got his wish: Thanks to D'Angelo's luscious physicality, albums started flying off the shelves. But the trouble began right away, at the start of the Voodoo tour in L.A. ‘It was a week of warm-up gigs at House of Blues just to kick off the tour, draw some attention, break in the band,’ says Alan Leeds, D's tour manager then and now. ‘And from the beginning, it's 'Take it off!'
Questlove, the tour's bandleader, was alarmed. "We thought, okay, we're going to build the perfect art machine, and people are going to love and appreciate it," he says. "And then by mid-tour it just became, what can we do to stop the 'Take it off' stuff?"
On a human level, I feel compassion towards D’Angelo for how this new and understandably unwanted status of “sex symbol”. This played a role in his decision to detach himself from the public eye.
D'Angelo dealt with a slew of personal struggles in the years following the release of Voodoo. I will not be highlighting the details of those struggles out of respect for him as a person, above all else. These personal struggles did contribute to the absence he had from the music industry. It wouldn’t be until 14 years after the release of Voodoo that D’Angelo would release another album.
Black Messiah was released in December 2014, a notably unusual time for artists to release new music. This is an album colored with a wide array of topics from violence against Black Americans (“The Charade”) to unconditional love (“Betray My Heart”).
This album is my personal favorite by D’Angelo, I credit it for encouraging me to expand my taste in music – more on this in my previous blog post). This album is a beautiful representation of D’Angelo as an artist and his ability to not only exist but thrive in a multitude of sonic arenas from R&B/Soul to rock. It’s been 10 years since the release of this brilliant body of work.
In February 2021, D’Angelo participated in a Verzuz (which was essentially a D’Angelo concert) that gave him a chance to touch base with his fans for the first time in some years. As a brand new fan of D’Angelo at the time, I felt so lucky and excited to experience this so soon after beginning to study him. We are still awaiting D’Angelo’s next album. I have no doubt that it’ll be well worth the wait. I view him as a great, responsible artist; one that has put out nothing but quality. He handles his craft with care. My primary wish for D’Angelo is that he is doing well.
Steve Perry
I was pretty burnt out on music when I left; completely toasty. I mean, [Journey] had a great run. That was the 80s and everything that came with the 80s burnt me out, and I just wanted to stop. I knew that I had lost my passion. The original passion I had for singing was slowly going away.
And sure, I could keep turning the wheel, we could still show up at the venues, and I could sing the songs. But I wasn’t connecting…the less I was connecting, the more scared I got. So, I said to myself, ‘I need to stop.’ It was not received very well, not just by the fans, certainly the band weren’t happy about it. But sometimes you gotta take care of yourself, you have to, and it’s not gonna be a popular decision. And I made an unpopular decision, and I’m glad I did in retrospect... – Steve Perry, Going Up Yonder: How Music Makers and Writers Confront Grief, 2019 Pop Conference
In 1978, Steve Perry joined Journey, a once primarily instrumental, jazz-fusion band. The band was looking to make a stylistic shift into a more song-oriented direction and Steve was going to be the key to making this shift happen.
Journey released three albums between the years 1975-1977, Journey, Look Into the Future and Next, prior to the addition of Steve to the band. From 1978-1983, Journey released five studio albums and toured incessantly. Even in their downtime, individual members would pursue solo ventures to nurture their innate desire to create.
In 1984, Steve released his debut solo album, “Street Talk”. This venture proved to be one that would bring him a great deal of joy and the realization of his dream on a heightened level. This album gave Steve an opportunity to display his R&B/Soul influence and sing in a different style. In 1986, Journey released what would be their last album for ten years, Raised On Radio.
In the process of producing of this album, Steve lost his mother, which had a deep effect on him. Still, when it came time to tour, he fulfilled his commitment and eventually began a hiatus following the conclusion of the Raised On Radio tour in 1987. Steve would occasionally perform and make appearances up until the early 90s.
In 1994, Steve released his sophomore album, For the Love of Strange Medicine, ten years after his debut album. This era proved to be another fulfilling one for Steve, giving him the opportunity to, once again, showcase his sound, influences, evolution as an artist, and more specifically, as a soloist.
Steve Perry had to stop to find out what was left standing after a very large circus ride. Right now, I am a culmination of everything that’s happened to me up to this point and I just try to take that with me. I will say that I feel more and more comfortable with these new songs than I’ve felt in a long time. Because I really didn’t have a lot to say for seven years…I didn’t just make a record because ‘Oh! Time to turn the crank’ you know? I had nothing to say…I was dry. I don’t feel dry anymore. – Steve Perry, “The Kitchen Is Closed” (1994)
The final track on FTLOSM, “Anyway”, seems to be a dedication to his Journey bandmates. The song is a beautiful one, speaking about both the memories born from a brotherhood founded on a shared passion for creating music and the pain associated with the way things may have ended between Steve and his bandmates. It’s a beautiful, heartfelt track with strong and emotion-filled vocal by Steve.
Just two years later in 1996, Journey would release, Trial By Fire, their final studio album with Steve as their lead singer. The band intended to support their album with a tour, but because of an injury Steve obtained while hiking, the tour was postponed. In 1998, the band decided to proceed with their tour and hire a replacement singer to fulfill their commitments. This was also the year Steve announced his departure from Journey. Steve released a compilation album of his greatest hits that included some previously unreleased tracks. This would be Steve’s final release until 2018’s, Traces.
I have a lot of admiration for Steve Perry as an artist. I appreciate his contribution to Journey and his ability to usher them into their new sound; one that brought them a heightened level of success. I admire his level of self-awareness to know when it was time to walk away from music. He could’ve very well continued on the merry-go-round, especially given the fact that he was at the highest level of success of his career. He, instead, prioritized his needs.
Final thoughts
The courage in choosing to take time away is what I find really inspiring. It always takes reaching a certain degree of success and financial freedom to make this choice. There are so many artists that I’m sure would love to take an extended break from touring, but can’t due to their need for the financial advantage it provides.
It’s important to note that live performances make up a large percentage of many artists’/musicians’ income. This fact couldn’t be any more true given the current state of the music business where streaming (which artists’ are unfairly compensated for) has become the most common form of music consumption. As much as taking breaks is a necessity, for many it is also a luxury.
The nature of the music industry has changed for both better and worse. One of the best aspects of today’s music industry is that artists can release music independently (although, this is far from easy and still requires serious hustle and dedication) and don’t necessarily have to sign their lives away to a label. In a time where 360 deals are alive and well and the industry’s reliance on social media presence, this is the route many artists are taking.
What I’ve learned from the stories of the three artists I’ve chosen to highlight in this post is quite simple. The purpose behind stepping back from the spotlight and chaos associated with their chosen profession is to get reacquainted with themselves and back in touch with their lives. That’s beyond fair.
Making unfavorable decisions, especially associated with disappointing others, takes a lot of courage. In order to prioritize yourself successfully, this is something that must happen. I can’t emphasize enough how much these artists inspire me. I love when I find similarities in the artists that I admire. Maxwell, D’Angelo and Steve Perry are three beautiful, courageous artists that I am grateful to have as favorites. Even when it was painful to make such a decision, I appreciate their ability to unplug from it all. Isn’t that what we all need sometimes?
They truly epitomize the age-old phrase: absence makes the heart grow fonder.
thank you for reading!
love,
cheyenne
contextual materials:
Soul Singer Maxwell Returns After 7 Years
Singer Maxwell finds his way back
D’Angelo on the Tavis Smiley Show (2014)
Amen! (D'Angelo's Back) - GQ Magazine
“The Kitchen Is Closed” - For The Love of Strange Medicine Album Documentary
The Big Interview with Dan Rather - Steve Perry Interview
