Music & Morals
 

Brand New’s Jesse Lacey has recently had some accusations made against him (it involves underage girls for those not in the know). Lacey more or less acknowledged that these accusations were true in his apology letter. Now, I’ve never been a huge Brand New fan. I’ve enjoyed a couple of their songs here and there, but never got super into them like some of my friend’s had. Many (but not all) of those friends have decided to stop listening to Brand New in light of everything.

It got me thinking, this isn’t the first time that a "rockstar" has had questionable relations with the underage. David Bowie, Jimmy Page, Elvis, Chuck Berry, etc. all have had sexual relationships with teenage girls while they were well into their adulthoods. But most of us don’t seem to care.

And then you have a band like the Lostprophets, who’s lead singer had questionable relations with a baby. There are still people (probably not that many), while repulsed by those actions, who continue to listen to their music.

So, my question is, do you guys separate the art from the artist? What would it take for you to stop listening to your favorite band?

While it makes for good trivia, I don't listen to music in the context of the artist's life so it's very easy for me to separate the two. I don't expect artists to be good people, I just expect them to make good art. I avoid supporting them financially by way of buying their music or going to their shows so that I know I'm not sponsoring that kind of behaviour, but I'm still gonna check out the new album if I like the artist.

This is an interesting way to describe a man raping babies.

You have to. Jerry Lee Lewis was another example. He notoriously not only married a 13 year old; it was his first cousin. It nearly ruined his career as did Chuck Berry's violation of the Mann Act. Still, I can listen to the music. Even someone as sick as Gary Glitter I'll listen to, though he clearly is about as despicable as they come.