Age is just a number. Look no further than Cher, Dolly Parton, Barbra Streisand, and Dionne Warwick for proof. |
All of them are octogenarians, and all of these musical legends “were criticized for qualities that made them distinctive: being too country, too Jewish, too outspoken, too ambitious, too artificial, too stubborn,” observes Debbie Millman for TIME’s Weekend Essay. |
However, rather than conform to convention, each built long-lasting careers by doubling down on the traits that made them targets of ridicule and by embracing reinvention. Now, after decades in the public eye, this class of icons continues to teach us what it means to live a life worth living. |
In the words of Millman: “A life well-lived, they remind us, is not the life that pleased the most people, made the fewest demands, or aged into quiet respectability. A good life is one lived on its own terms, refusing every invitation to become smaller, softer, or less fully oneself.” |
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WEEKEND ESSAY |
What Octogenarian Pop Divas Show Us About a Life Well-Lived |
By Debbie Millman |
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Cher, Dolly Parton, Barbra Streisand, and Dionne WarwickStewart Cook—CBS/Getty Images; Jason Kempin—Getty Images; Kevin Mazur—BSB/Getty Images; Frank Hoensch—Redferns/Getty Images |
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On May 20, Cher turned 80 years old. Beyond a celebration of one spectacular career, her birthday is an occasion to consider what it means for a woman to maintain long-term relevance. It opens a larger question about endurance, public scrutiny, and what it takes to live a long, authentic life. |
Cher, Dolly Parton, Barbra Streisand, and Dionne Warwick, all now in their 80s, were criticized for qualities that made them distinctive: being too country, too Jewish, too outspoken, too ambitious, too artificial, too stubborn. Rather than soften those edges, they built careers around them. The traits that once made them targets of ridicule eventually became their signatures. |
In a culture that prizes constant reinvention, these octogenarian pop divas suggest another path: longevity through self-definition. They evolved, certainly, but without surrendering the core identities that made them recognizable in the first place. A life well-lived, they remind us, is not the life that pleased the most people, made the fewest demands, or aged into quiet respectability. A good life is one lived on its own terms, refusing every invitation to become smaller, softer, or less fully oneself. |
Debbie Millman is the Chair of the Masters in Branding program at the School of Visual Arts and the host of Design Matters. |
Read the full essay here… |
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