Jesse Singer articles

Before Hollywood ever put a camera in his face, Robert Mitchum had already lived through things most leading men only pretended to survive. By the time he was old enough to vote, he had a record, a reputation, and a stare that didn’t come from acting lessons. The studios didn’t create his edge. They just recognized it.

The 70s were stacked—rock epics, soul masterpieces, disco anthems, songs that still fill arenas and dance floors today. So if Stairway is number one, what rounds out the rest of the top 30?

For decades, Robin Williams’ brain was his superpower. Directors described him as operating at a speed no one else could match. Then in 2013, subtle changes began surfacing. The energy was still there—but something underneath it was shifting.

For a few years in the late 40s and early 50s, Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin were the biggest act in America. They made studios millions and filled theaters instantly. Then it ended. Not just the partnership—the friendship. For the next 20 years, they didn’t speak.

Leather jackets and loud amps aren't tough—that's easy. Real toughness, well that's.... tough. Rock history is packed with big personalities, but only some proved they were as tough as their image suggested (or didn't suggest even).

The 1969 Woodstock Music and Art Fair has become the most famous music festival of all time. It defined an era and gave us some of the most notable performances of the century. Why would any musician turn down a chance to play at Woodstock then?

For a stretch there, musicians couldn’t stop name-dropping him. Blues singers blamed him. Rock bands partied with him. Country artists outran him. The 60s and 70s especially treated him like a recurring guest star.

Baby Boomers technically span from 1946 to 1964. Which means the oldest were already paying bills when the youngest were still discovering FM radio with the bedroom door closed. So when younger Boomers start reminiscing about “their bands,” older Boomers sometimes respond with a polite smile that says, ‘I have absolutely no memory of this.’

Mitch Hedberg didn’t build long narratives or dramatic callbacks. He walked on stage, squinted into the lights, and dropped perfectly engineered one-liners. It was pure comic genius the likes of which we’d never seen before and might never see again.