Celebrityhood

[JamesVincent]

Not related to anything forum wise but I had an interesting conversation last night with an old friend. To put the question into some sort of context this is someone I've known for a little over 30 years. When we met I was a bouncer in a fairly large nightclub and he was the lead singer in a, at the time, local band who went on to be semi-national. Now he still plays and sings, has his own small entertainment business and performs solo acts to pass the time. What brought the question up was he had asked for help writing his memoirs.

And the question is:

What defines celebrityhood?

Part of what we were talking about is publishing. When I published my novel I self published since I couldn't find a single legit publishing company willing to even pass the time with an unknown. What I had told him was that since he already has a name, albeit a small one, in the entertainment industry he may very well find someone willing to give him a good deal. And that led to questioning what defines a celebrity. Now we're talking about someone whose band had toured a good chunk of the country, mostly the East Coast in the 90s. They had some considerable airtime in the Baltimore-Washington area, including performing live on 98 Rock a few times. They performed the last ever concert at Hammerjacks, which was a huge nationally known club in downtown Baltimore, it's now part of a parking lot for the football stadium. As a solo artist he performed on Oprah a few years back. One of the other members of his band went on to be the drummer for Ice Ts band Bodycount and he had received some publicity performing a couple times with them when they toured locally.

So where is, or is there even, a line to where someone is considered a "celebrity"? Is it the number of people who follow you or is it the number of lives you've touched? Like I said nothing related to the forum but an interesting philosophical musing.

Edit: had the wrong Ice

[Frater I*I]

performed on Oprah a few years back. One of the other members of his band went on to be the drummer for Ice Cube's band Bodycount and he had received some publicity performing a couple times with them when they toured locally.

So where is, or is there even, a line to where someone is considered a "celebrity"? Is it the number of people who follow you or is it the number of lives you've touched? Like I said nothing related to the forum but an interesting philosophical musing.

That would be the other Ice...Ice-T...

I had the original release of that CD that came in a mini body bag...

[JamesVincent]

Yeah thought about that after I had posted it. Sad thing is I just watched the video for Institutionalized the other day, his tribute to Suicidal Tendencies.