When was the term ‘rock star’ first used?
Picture the rock star. They sit back, cigarette in mouth, smoke emanating and rising to the ceiling. Aviators cover their eyes, their hair drapes down to their shoulders, and they don’t give a fuck about anything. They take to the stage, that same cigarette still burning in their mouth, a drink waiting for them next to a guitar. They put it on, a leopard print strap holding it in place, before turning to the crowd, hundreds of thousands screaming their name, lost in complete adoration of this God-like presence. Where in the name of sound did it come from?
It’s difficult to pinpoint the origin of the term rock star. Naturally, to effectively trace it back, you need to trace back the origin of rock music, as the term rock star came from its development. That doesn’t help things, as the origin of rock and roll is just as disorientating as the origin of the term rock star.
The genre was first fully formed in the mid-1950s as a branch of rhythm and blues. It was a much heavier and more upbeat version of the genre, which steadily became the most popular style of music in the world, as people enjoyed dancing and singing along to the upbeat melodies that were intrinsic to a good rock and roll song.
A few instances of rock and roll were used before the genre’s development. For example, in 1939, on The Fred Allen – Town Hall Tonight – Show, a barbershop quartet led in with a song called ‘Rock and Roll’. Equally, in 1942, on a Sister Rosetta Tharpe track called ‘Rock Me’, her vocals were described by one critic as “rock-and-roll spiritual singing”.
In 1951, when the Cleveland-based DJ Alan Freed started playing rock and roll on his station, he began using the term, which is when it first started to gain traction as something used widely by the public. From then on, the genre started getting more and more attention, meaning more radio stations began using the term rock and roll to describe it until it was widely accepted as the genre’s official name.
From there, the term rock star came to fruition. Rock and roll wasn’t like any other genre; an heir of hysteria followed it around, as what the musicians were doing didn’t just welcome a new sound but a new sense of being. People like Chuck Berry and Elvis moved with flamboyancy and adopted a coolness in music that had never been seen before, and the public became obsessed. Subsequently, the term rock star was created to describe these otherworldly musicians.
Trying to pin down the first time that the word was used is difficult. It may be easiest to assume that Alan Freed will have used it to describe an artist, given he was one of the first to popularise the term ‘rock n roll’, but there is nothing to suggest that is fundamentally the case. Given that so much of the initial talk surrounding it was done on the airwaves and at gigs, finding the first time it was used is nearly impossible. We know it will have been the mid-50s, but that’s about as much as we can narrow it down.
Who is considered the first rock star?
Similar to the above, it is tough to work out who the first rock star was, given tracking down the origin of the word is so muddled in excited chatter about the emergence of a new genre. One of the musicians who first popularised rock music was Elvis Presley. He was also one of the first musicians to drum up the hysteria that musicians had never managed to do before, and as such, he may well be considered the first rock star.
Following on from him, as rock music changed, so did how we perceive rock stars. If you picture a rock star, you picture long hair and substance abuse, as opposed to the clean-cut image that a young Elvis Presley had. The term has evolved even further than that now, as rock star no longer simply refers to music.
How the term ‘rock star’ has changed
Over the years, as tends to be the case with language in general, how we use the term rockstar has changed so that they are no longer confined to the boundaries of music. Now, the word is used to celebrate someone who is an expert in their field. For instance, good writers, salespeople and marketers also have the term rock star attached to highlight their excessive talent.
Arguably, one of the only professions these days where rock stars don’t carry much weight is in music. As it became more used, its meaning became saturated, and the public steadily lost interest. If a musician referred to themselves as rock stars these days, they would likely be met with contorted faces of cringe instead of adoration.
