The Final Hurrah: Paul Westerberg, Frank Ocean, Michael Stipe, Steve Perry & More: Artists We Hope To See Live Again

It’s a big-time bummer when your favorite band or artist is breaking up, except if you hear that your favorite band is going on an “indefinite hiatus”. That’s just a tease and borderline rude, and when that artist goes on indefinite hiatus no matter how long, fans still hold out hope that their social media feed might tease a new album or tour.

Then again, 2022 has seen previously unthikable comeback stories. From Joni Mitchell making her triumphant return to the live stage at the Newport Folk Festival, Rage Against The Machine brought their rap/rock sound back to life after 11 years of silence on their Public Service Announcement tour, ABBA returned as holograms and released a new album after 40+ years, and Roxy Music set out to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their debut. 

Unexpected reunions are becoming more common as this era of nostalgia keeps a chokehold on pop culture but there are still bands holding out. Glide has compiled a list of the bands/artists we hope to see make a return sooner rather than later. 

 Paul Westerberg 

It has been a few years since we saw Paul Westerberg of The Replacements performing in the flesh, his last true show was in 2015 as The Replacements abruptly ended a two-year reunion jaunt. Since his critically acclaimed band broke up for the first time in the early 90s, Westerberg has been busy on an off. He launched a solo career in 1993 with the release of 14 Songs and went on to release six more critically acclaimed solo albums. While his last release was in 2016 with Juliana Hatfield as The I Don’t Cares, Westerberg has become internet-savvy and taken his career on a new path. He has released albums under the name Grandpaboy and most recently in 2017, he took to Soundcloud as User 964848511 to release a few loose singles and joined Bandcamp as Dry Wood Garage for a few more undercover releases. While his live appearances have dwindled, there is no lack of new music from Westerberg. 

Frank Ocean 

The ever-elusive poster child of R&B, Frank Ocean is one of the most sought-after and mesmerizing artists of the past two decades. His two official studio albums, 2012’s Channel Orange and 2016’s Blonde are considered essential to their genre. Besides a slew of singles since the release of Blonde and a select few festival appearances, Ocean has been awol. His last live appearance was at Finland’s Flow Festival in 2017. He was set to perform at 2020’s Coachella festival before the organization behind the country’s biggest festival canceled the whole show. Ocean has since started HOMER, a jewelry company based out of New York City, and just celebrated the 10-year anniversary of his debut album. No word on any music or shows at the moment but if his next album is released just like Blonde, it can happen any day now. 

Grace Slick 

An integral part of the west coast psychedelic movement, Grace Slick’s songbook speaks for itself. Being one of the driving creative forces behind Jefferson Airplane and later Jefferson Starship, she is one of the first female rock stars and has left a legacy worthy of any and all praise thrown her way. Since her retirement from the music world, Slick has become a visual artist, her paintings and memoir are critically acclaimed and brought yet another chapter to her storied life. As far as music is concerned, Slick has not graced us with a live performance since 1991, and by the looks of it, has no intention of coming back. 

Randy Meisner 

As one of the founding members of the acclaimed Eagles, Randy Meisner’s heartfelt bass stylings have injected themselves into music on many a well-known Eagles song. His celebrated career is made up of his concise songwriting and uncanny approach to basslines. After his infamous departure from the Eagles, Meisner took off on a solo career and released seven albums from the years 1978-2005. Although he had a solo release in 2005, his last live performance was in 2000 at the Fred Wallace Benefit in California. Although he joined his former Poco bandmate Richie Furay on a zoom concert in 2020, Meisner has become a recluse since his last live performance 22 years ago. 

Steve Perry

Steve Perry has cemented himself as one of the most prolific lead singers in recent history. His time in the world-renowned rock band Journey was fruitful, to say the least, scoring massive hits and heading out on worldwide tours. Perry’s membership in Journey has been shaky, leaving the band in 1987 only to rejoin the band between the years 1995-1998. His solo career was maintained during his off periods with the band and he recently made a bold comeback with 2018’s Traces album.

While his classics with Journey and famed solo career keep us in our stereos, it has been over three decades since Perry performed live- although Journey has been doing big business with Arnel Pineda on vocals for the last 15 years. He toured for his sophomore album For The Love of Strange Medicine in 1994 and 1995, the last show of that tour took place in Puerto Rico. Yet in one of the most unexpected cameos of all time, Perry also made a rare appearance at a 2014 Minnesota Eels, this marked the golden voice frontman’s first live appearance in 19 years. Although the rust was there, Perry still sounded like Perry.

Dickey Betts

The Allman Brothers Band was groundbreaking and changed the way bands were structured having two guitarists, and Dickey Betts shared the lead guitarist spot with Warren Haynes for a majority of the past 1990 Allman Brothers Band and earlier with the pioneering Duane Allman. Betts had moderate success as a solo artist in bands such as Dickey Betts & The Great Southern and The Dickey Betts band over the 80s and 90s. His last live performance was back in 2018 with the Dickey Betts Band in Scranton, PA during their short tour during that summer fittingly named The Summer 2018 Tour, yet Betts was also a no-invite for The Brothers big NYC show in March 2020. 

Michael Stipe 

Besides a few short appearances for environmental benefit shows, the famed frontman of R.E.M. has been silent in recent years. Since the 2011 official break up of his acclaimed band he started in college, which Stipe said will never reunite has recently as of 2021 worked with Coldplay’s Chris Martin on a cover of “In The Sun” by Joseph Arthur for an EP dedicated to the relief fund for Hurricane Katrina. Stipe has also worked with Courtney Love and Big Red Machine for select singles. His last performance was a digital appearance in 2020 at Pathway to Paris: World Environment Day and his last time performing in the flesh was the year prior when he opened for Patti Smith at Webster Hall in New York. 

Tina Turner 

Despite one of the most turbulent careers in music history, Tina Turner has proven herself as one of the most celebrated musicians as well. With over 100 million records sold worldwide and a resume of chart-topping singles, Tina Turner is considered one of the most successful artists of all time. Starting out as a member of The Ike & Tina Turner Revue show with her infamous husband, Tina Turner went on to have a wildly successful solo career with hits like “What’s Love Got To Do With It”, “Proud Mary”, “Private Dancer”, and a laundry list of more smashes. She officially retired from music in 2009 after the completion of her “Tina!: 50th Anniversary Tour”, the last stop taking place in England at the Sheffield Arena. 

Jimmy Page 

Another artist that has earned the right to hide from the spotlight is Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page. Page’s time in Led Zeppelin has cemented him as one of the greatest guitarists of all time, landing him at number three on Rolling Stones’ “100 Greatest Guitarists of all Time” list back in 2015 along with a long list of other achievements. Following the big Led Zeppelin 02 reunion show in late 2007, Page made waves with the 2008 documentary film It Might Get Loud alongside The Edge and Jack White. He makes a rare appearance here and there, like his appearance at Le Grand Journal in Paris where he performed “Ramble On ” by Zeppelin in 2014. 

Geddy Lee & Alex Lifeson

Two of the founding members of Rush never truly said farewell but had to know it was coming a few years after their last show to celebrate their 40th anniversary  It is claimed that the band stopped their touring career early due to drumming icon Neil Peart’s reluctance to touring,  which made the drummer’s 2020 painful death a final nail in Rush, as each member is simply not replaceable.

Since the loss of Peart, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson have thrown themselves into side projects, see Lifeson with Envy of None while Lee went solo and found solace in writing a book on the bass instrument. Without Peart, the remaining members of Rush are left with a long and accomplished legacy, but fans would love to see Geddy and Alex do a new musical adventure.

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2 Responses

  1. ” there is no lack of new music from Westerberg”

    Not true, he hasn’t released anything in years, or done anything live.

    And it’s just as well, luv him, but Paul’s voice is totally gone, let him retire in peace…

    1. Steve,
      Please explain your knowledge of Paul’s voice ‘being gone”???
      Huge fan here! Miss his creative songwriting.

      Keith

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