Rock n’ roll will never die – but its ageing stars are getting harder to insure, a leading music figure warned.
With Rod Stewart, 80, and Neil Young, 79, topping the bill at Glastonbury, festivals are tapping in to the demand to see rock’s elder statesmen on what could be their final globe-trotting tours.
But the organiser of a festival assembling rock’s most notorious hellraisers admits he is taking a costly risk, with illness and premature deaths threatening a line-up of veterans ahead of next Sunday’s show.
Billy Idol, Happy Mondays, fronted by former drug addict Shaun Ryder, ex-Sex Pistol John Lydon, The Damned and the Jesus and Mary Chain are among the headline acts at the first Forever Now festival, celebrating the late-70s “post punk and new wave” scenes, at Milton Keynes Bowl.
The line-up includes pension-age performers still rocking after a life of excess.
Idol, 69, reveals he nearly expired from a heroin overdose in 1984 in a new documentary, Billy Idol Should Be Dead.
Others fell at the final hurdle. Peter Murphy, 67, former singer with Bauhaus, the godfathers of gothic rock, pulled out just weeks before the show, citing “recent health issues.”
Punk trailblazers The Damned will appear without founding guitarist Brian James, who died aged 74 in March.
Steve Homer, CEO of AEG Presents UK, the event promoter, said the cost of insurance cover against cancellations is rising for ageing rockers who want to the show to go on well into their 70s and 80s.
Homer told The i Paper: “The insurance premiums become a lot higher. It’s to do with age, their touring history and any medical conditions they may have had, so insurance becomes a consideration for an event like this.”
Wishing Murphy a full recovery, Homer said: “You always run that risk when you’re booking a series of artists that are slightly older. There’s going to be a lot of bus passes floating around Milton Keynes. And a lot of these artists came through at a time when drugs and alcohol were part and parcel of the business.”
Steve Stevens (l) and Billy Idol perform onstage at the “Billy Idol Should Be Dead” premiere during the 2025 Tribeca Festival (Photo: Getty)Performers who have emerged from rehab are now being asked to prove their fitness for a gruelling tour before being approved for cancellation cover.
Martin Goebbels, music specialist at Miller Insurance, said: “Health MOT’s for musicians are becoming more common. Some insurers pulled out of live music after Covid or started to ask more searching medical questions. Especially if it’s for a two or three month tour covering 30 dates.”
Most artists take out “non appearance” cover before a major tour, with insurers charging up to 3 per cent of the total appearance fee.
Goebbels said: “Cancellation or non-appearance insurance premiums tend to be higher for artists in their 60s, 70s and 80’s, but that would be the same for any class of insurance for those age groups.”
“There are many more artists in these age groups touring than ever before and full credit to them. But insurers have to account for the fact that their ages perhaps make them more susceptible to illness or fatigue.”
Goebbels added: “A band that’s reforming might not realise until the last minute that premiums have gone up due to their ages and potentially health issues in the 15 years since they played, so early budgeting is crucial.”
“And premiums are higher for a band of five or six people and often you have to include key crew too, than for a DJ with no key crew who is not singing , which could be half the cost.”
Forever Now will be a ‘celebration of post-punk alternative culture’The cost of taking out “non appearance” cover can run into millions of pounds for a band like The Rolling Stones.
A band at that level would look at other options, such as replacing a band member, before pulling a show, which could send premiums soaring.
Neil Young is now only playing outdoor shows to mitigate the risk of getting Covid.
Fans attending Ozzy Osbourne’s Black Sabbath farewell concert in Birmingham next month have been warned that the 76 year-old, suffering from Parkinson’s disease, will only be able to perform a few songs due to his condition.
At Forever Now, Homer has a back-up list of punk survivors he can call on to make up gaps in the bill – Murphy will be replaced by John McKay, guitarist and original member of Siouxsie and the Banshees.
Headline act Kraftwerk, the German electronica pioneers, are a safe booking since their touring line-up is regularly replenished by laptop-prodding new members. Ralf Hütter, the sole original member of the quartet, has said he will continue touring “until I fall off the stage.”
“There has to be at least one original member for me or its’s more like a tribute act,” said Homer, who has staged recent concerts by Sir Paul McCartney and Robbie Williams.
Steve Homer, CEO of AEG Presents UK, has back-up plans if any billed artist cannot appear at Forever Now (AEG)Touring is also becoming more expensive – with a knock-on effect on ticket prices – because older singers need more time to recover between shows. “Billy Idol was literally pumped back to life in the 80s. He has to have a day off between shows now,” Homer said.
“Other artists will do one show every three or more days. It can mean more hotels and crew costs because a tour takes longer.”
Homer hopes Forever Now will become an annual event, if the performers, and their fans, can last the course. “No-one thought we’d be seeing rock stars performing into their 80s,” he said.
“It’s a testament to these artists that people still want to see them and they can still perform to the level that they do. But it’s likely you won’t see a line-up like this on one day ever again.”
Booking Billy Idol and Shaun Ryder might actually prove less of a risk than building a show around the latest TikTok-created pop sensation.
“Often a young artist who bursts onto the scene can suddenly be projected into a colossal workload they have not been used to, and these days the toll on mental health as well as physical becomes a worrying factor too,” warned Goebbels.
Forever Now line-up
Kraftwerk – original member Florian Schneider left the band in 2008 and died in 2020. Ralf Hütter is the sole original member
Billy Idol – Generation X punk singer nearly died from heroin overdose and almost lost a leg in 1990 motorcycle crash. Now ‘California sober’
The Damned – Founding guitarist Brian James died in March
Happy Mondays – Former crack cocaine user and heroin addict Shaun Ryder is now clean. Bassist Paul Ryder died in 2022
Peter Murphy – Bauhaus goth icon cancelled 2025 tour due to health issues. Had entered rehab in 2022 after previous tour
Public Image Ltd – Ex-Pistol John Lydon admits “wallowing in alcohol” after death of wife Nora in 2023
Jesus & Mary Chain – 80s band who provoked riots originally split after booze-fuelled onstage fight in 1998
Psychedelic Furs – Saxophonist Mars Williams died in 2023
The Cult (performing as Death Cult) – singer Ian Astbury retreated to Tibetan monastery to recover from rock n’ roll lifestyle
Johnny Marr – Vegan former member of The Smiths took up running and is an advert for healthy living
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