From Tom Jones to the Rolling Stones, Who Are the Oldest Swingers in Town?

From Tom Jones to the Rolling Stones, Who Are the Oldest Swingers in Town?

These days you don’t have to be young to have a hit song – in fact some of the most successful singers have long left their teenage years, and even their middle years behind. As Tom Jones, aged 80, releases a new album, we ask ‘who are the oldest swingers in town?’, and what makes them continuingly popular?

Maybe it’s not just that digital music these days is regarded as a throwaway commodity, and people no longer have collections of vinyl or CDs – it’s also that the live music scene is dying, and bands and singers no longer have a way to ‘pay their dues’ and accumulate a large fanbase.

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In the age of ‘here today and gone tomorrow’ manufactured idols, these ageing rockers have shown they have the talent and the tenacity to remain eternally popular – and even when they’re dead and gone, their music will live on after their younger rivals have been long forgotten.

Here’s our list of the Oldest Swingers in Town.- and like all good rock lists, it goes up to 11.

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Bruce Springsteen, 71

The baby of our Oldest Swingers in Town, at 71 ‘The Boss’ might have had to cut down on the on-stage knee-slides, but in his musical output he’s as prolific as ever.

A solo artist and the leader of the E Street Band, originally from the Jersey Shore, he received critical acclaim for his early 1970s albums and attained worldwide fame on the release of Born to Run in 1975.

In a career spanning five decades, Bruce Springsteen has become known for his poetic, socially conscious lyrics and energetic stage performances, sometimes lasting up to four hours in length.

His lyrics often address the experiences and struggles of working-class Americans, and Born in the U.S.A., certified 15× platinum in the US and selling 30 million copies worldwide, includes the title track, a bitter commentary on the treatment of Vietnam veterans.

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Recently Bruce Springsteen has hosted podcasts including interviews with President Barack Obama, and released Letter to You, an introspective album about his early years in rock’n’roll.

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Alice Cooper, 73

“Alice Cooper” was originally a band in Phoenix, Arizona, but Vince Furnier, as he’s known to his mum, adopted the name for a 50-year career of shock rock, featuring pyrotechnics, stage props including guillotines and electric chairs, fake blood, reptiles, and baby dolls.

The band reached their commercial peak in 1973 with their sixth studio album, Billion Dollar Babies, but when they broke up in 1975, Vince Furnier adopted the band’s name as both his legal name and his stage name, beginning his solo career with the 1975 concept album Welcome to My Nightmare.

With styles varying from art rock to industrial rock, Alice helped to shape the sound and look of heavy metal, but he has lots of outside interests, including golf, acting and running restaurants. He released his 21st solo album, Detroit Stories, in February 2021.

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