TL;DR
A Sixty and Me essay titled “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me” argues that older adults should not have to give up music, travel or activity because of age-based expectations. The author draws on a long career as a musician and senior entertainer, and says he is looking to return to performing at 69.
A contributor to Sixty and Me has used Billy Joel’s “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me” to make a personal case against age-based limits on music, travel and activity, describing plans to return to performing at 69. The essay combines the writer’s experience as a musician and senior entertainer with examples of older adults pursuing interests that are often associated with younger people.
The writer says he has worked as a musician since 1972 and has been gigging as a senior entertainer since 1992. Early in that work, he relied on songs from the Great American Songbook, including material associated with Frank Sinatra. He says he found that audiences also wanted to sway, dance and jitterbug, leading him to add more rock music to performances. He recalls joking that he would eventually play Bruce Springsteen at a retirement home.
In the essay, Joel’s 1980 song serves as a metaphor for continuing to act on personal preferences rather than adjusting them to satisfy critics or social expectations. The writer notes that the song reached No. 1 for two weeks, according to his account, while Joel later played sold-out residencies at Madison Square Garden. The essay contrasts the song’s direct rock structure with critical judgments about Joel’s music, and presents his career as an example of carrying on without depending on approval.
The contributor also describes frequent travel with his wife, saying they may be home for only two weeks between trips. He says they planned and saved for that lifestyle and that their children are doing well. The essay closes with the writer saying that, after a couple of years away from performing, he is looking to return to stages at brew pubs and senior communities, with a set that may include Springsteen and Taylor Swift alongside standards.
Older Adults Choosing Their Own Pace
The essay addresses a familiar social question: whether activities such as loud music, dancing, travel and starting new hobbies are treated as inappropriate once someone reaches a certain age. The writer argues that these assumptions can narrow older people’s choices, even when they remain interested and able to participate. His central point is personal rather than a claim about all older adults: age should not set an automatic cutoff for how a person spends time.
That argument is illustrated through the writer’s own plans and examples in the essay: a retired executive taking up bass and joining a cover band, a 74-year-old learning competitive swimming, and people returning to education, dating or dance later in life. Those anecdotes do not establish how common such decisions are, but they show the range of possibilities the author wants readers to consider. The practical relevance is the invitation to question assumptions about retirement and make choices that fit individual interests and circumstances.
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
From Standards to Springsteen
The author’s career informs the essay’s musical perspective. He says his repertoire initially leaned on classic popular standards, but audience response encouraged him to include music for dancing and movement. His imagined future of playing Springsteen in an older-adult community became a way to track how music associated with one generation can remain meaningful as that generation ages.
The piece also references artists who continued to work or evolve later in life, including Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell and Johnny Cash. It quotes the title of Dylan’s “Forever Young” as a prompt to think about continued curiosity and activity rather than literal youth. These references are the writer’s illustrations, not evidence that every older person wants the same lifestyle.
For its discussion of age expectations, the essay cites Ashton Applewhite, author of This Chair Rocks, and reproduces her line: “Fear of dying is human. Fear of aging is cultural.” The writer also mentions Jamie Lee Curtis as a public figure who has rejected some conventional expectations around appearance, and recalls that his mother had a boyfriend in her 80s and danced until nearly 90.
““Fear of dying is human. Fear of aging is cultural.””
— Ashton Applewhite, as quoted in the essay
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
What the Essay Does Not Establish
The supplied report does not give the essay’s publication date, identify the contributor by name, or provide details about where or when his next performances might take place. His plan is described as an active search, not as a confirmed booking or scheduled return to the stage.
The examples of older adults trying new activities are presented as anecdotes. The essay provides no survey data or other evidence measuring how widespread age-based restrictions are, how often older adults encounter them, or how many people pursue the activities listed. Its discussion should be read as personal commentary and advocacy, not as a statistical account of aging or retirement.
senior-friendly musical instruments
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
The Writer’s Possible Return to Stages
The next development identified in the essay is the writer’s effort to resume entertaining at brew pubs and senior communities. No dates, venues or confirmed performances are listed, so the timing and whether the return will happen remain unknown. He expects to revisit standards while also considering songs by Springsteen and Taylor Swift.
Beyond that personal plan, the essay ends by asking readers to reflect on activities they may have set aside because others label them “for the youth.” It does not announce a formal program or call for a specific policy change; its stated next step is a conversation about how people make decisions about music, travel, social life and activity as they grow older.
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
Key Questions
What is “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me” about?
It is a Sixty and Me first-person essay that uses Billy Joel’s song as a metaphor for choosing how to age. The author argues that older adults should not have to give up interests such as rock music, dancing or travel because of social expectations.
Is the author returning to live performances?
The author says he is looking to perform again at brew pubs and senior communities after a couple of years away. The supplied report does not name any confirmed bookings or dates.
What experience does the writer have as a musician?
He says he has been a musician since 1972 and a gigging senior entertainer since 1992. He describes performing standards as well as adding music audiences can dance to.
Does the essay provide research on ageism?
No. It offers the author’s observations, personal experiences and examples of older people pursuing different activities, but it does not provide survey results or statistical evidence about ageism or participation rates.
Source: rss
