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And now Bruce Springsteen, who turns 60 this September, releases a new album and performs at the SuperBowl. Whatever happened to Live Fast, Die Young? Someone ask Sid Vicious. Even Johnny Rotten turns 53 on January 31. Used to be never trust anyone over 30, but now it's more like the only performers who can still afford to tour are the ones who can maximize their AARP discounts.

In order to keep the list down to 25, I had to exclude some pretty serious players in rock-related fields. B.B. King, for example, is 83. Merle Haggard, battling lung cancer, is 72. Willie Nelson will turn 76 this year. Charlie Louvin is still making albums and is now 81. Initially, I started the list as rockers over 40, but that meant just about everybody. This way, U2, Metallica and R.E.M. are all spared being on an "old people" list for at least another year.

Little Richard, born 12/5/32 is noted here, rather than on the list, since his Geico commercials aside, to my knowledge he hasn't been performing much anymore. And Billy Joel is technically retired.

What can you say about a list where Madonna and Prince are the spring chickens at 50?

25) Ozzy Osbourne (12/3/48): In some ways the youngest guy on this list if only because he's the youngest at heart. He doesn't seem capable of growing up--or filing a tax return. It's a good thing his wife understands numbers because the number of the beast aside, I don't see Ozzy spending much time with a calculator--and when you're a freelance hard rocker, you gotta know how to budget your time and money.

24) Lou Reed (3/2/42): As he gets older and his voice becomes more shriveled and shaky and the glasses make him look more like an academic, or Bob Dylan's grandmother, than a rocker, Reed is finally coming into his own. He's always been a crank, a difficult personality. But now he has the aura around him, the death glow. Just keep him out of the leather pants. Him and that dude from Train. Man, that is not a pretty sight.

23) Tom Waits (12/7/49): Waits is another one who dreamed of being old before his time. You look at those clips from the 1970s now and he looks like a kid. While these days he looks just about right. He's always had the voice that sounded wise beyond its years, even when his stories turned out more shaggy dog than seeing eye.

22) Lucinda Williams (1/26/53): Lucinda's always had the sound of the road on her, that gritty dirt that she's turned into a bit of seductive parody over the years. While the past ten years have been good to her, it was all those years previous to Car Wheels On A Gravel Road when she put the mileage on. And all things that catch up with you. She sings AC/DC's "It's A Long Way To The Top If You Want To Rock n' Roll" like an old blues shouter, meaning every word.

21) Patti Smith (12/30/46): Patti came of age in the 1970s, yet she easily could've been part of the previous generation of rockers. Keith Moon wasn't even 20 when he exploded on the scene, while Patti waited her turn until almost 30. And Moon was only months older than Smith. Then again, he died many decades ago, suggesting that sometimes fame should be like ketchup and worth the wait.

20) Richard Thompson (4/3/49): I wonder when Thompson realized that no matter what he did, it would never catch on. He signed with one record label after another and always felt the love of his cult audience, but that elusive "smash hit," the "game-changer" never happened, no matter how many great songs he wrote. At this point, he seems comfortable enough and can watch his son go through the whole thing all over again.

19) David Bowie (1/8/47): As a role-playing, character driven rock star, you'd think he'd find a few good masks to hide behind. But, somehow, he doesn't need it. He still looks better than rockers half his age and he's always on the verge of rediscovering his sound, since it's always been about borrowing from whomever happens to be sitting in front of him at the moment. And then doing it better, or at least as convincingly.

18) Graham Parker (11/18/50): At this point, Parker's often without a backing band. Pure economics. Who can afford to carry an entire band on the road if you're the leader of a small cult? Instead, he writes more, more songs, more albums and more lyrics, so the people politely seated have something to think about when he isn't playing the old hits that people have come to hear.

17) Chuck Berry (1018/26): Chuck still gets out and plays. And he still uses whomever they dig up at the last minute and good luck to everyone. Has he even written a new song in 20 years? Does he have to? His catalog is solid and a basic primer for rock n' roll. Whoever would have thought any rock ‘n roller would still be going past 80?

16) Jerry Lee Lewis (9/29/35): Who's the best? Just ask him and Jerry Lee will tell you. When he isn't busy working his name into his songs, he's letting you know there's only one "Killer" and he still makes records from time to time. And he prefers cash. Now.

15) Iggy Pop (4/21/47): No matter how great his physique, he needs to keep his shirt on. A man in his 60s is still a man in his 60s whether he has the eternal youth of rock n' roll flowing through his once drug-addled veins or not. If kids half his age had his attitude and his energy, rock n' roll might be doing better with a battle against the computer age. As it is, play Guitar Hero and hope for the best. Which isn't much.

14) Madonna (8/16/58): Whoever would've imagined Madonna at 50 still trying to be a pop star? You would've figured she'd have a clothing line, a home-style magazine for the single woman, a dance troupe, any number of other lines of business. But then maybe pop star was the only job she ever really wanted. She probably never imagined the day when she'd have seniority!

13) Prince (6/7/58): As we age, we tend to get weirder. We're not all Howard Hughes but given the opportunity...and when you consider how private Prince has been over the years, it only feeds into the myth. For whatever people don't know for sure, they make up. And what you make up is always better than what actually happens anyhow. So Prince is even further ahead than we imagine. Or rather is further ahead because we can only imagine.

12) The Who (Townshend: 5/19/45, Daltrey: 3/1/44): Does it seem as if the Who have sold every song in their catalog to someone? At least the songs anyone wanted to hear again. So while I can respect the talent of these elderly gents, I can't say I enjoy them much anymore. I don't blame them. I'd take the money in a heartbeat. But where I once heard youthful cries of frustration, I now see a truck cruising through the desert.

11) Ray Davies (6/21/44): Davies was always too weird to be a real icon. His best moments are too personal and idiosyncratic and he's such a frustrated crank that he's always entertaining even when you're not sure if you could ever be as upset about the things he's upset about. He's making records again and he's performing his songs like he's on a permanent Storytellers jag. Which is probably the best way to hear him these days.

10) Van Morrison (8/31/45): Like Bob Dylan, Van Morrison is a lifer where it never matters whether or not he's having a good time or not. He's going out there regardless. And whatever happens, happens. He may or may not acknowledge the audience. He may or may not play his hits. Anyone for a medley? Some nights he will transcend every limitation. Some nights he will throw in the towel. But it's always a reflection of exactly where he is at that moment. And now he's playing Astral Weeks live. If he lives another 50 years maybe he'll tour Veedon Fleece.

9) Paul McCartney (6/18/42): The opposite of Morrison, McCartney is a showman. He doesn't let his personal life interfere with the performance. He's there to entertain you. And he aims to please. Lots of hits. Lots of lights. Lots of high energy and smiles all around. When people are paying what they're paying just to park the car these days, this can matter more than you'd like to admit.

8) Wanda Jackson (10/27/37): Talk about a true prisoner of rock n' roll, Wanda's been at it for decades and remains one of the true practitioners of an art form that doesn't have nearly as many practitioners as it'd like you to believe. I just wouldn't call her old in her presence. She's like a Japanese sports car, only getting warmed at after turning 70,000 miles. And now she's made it to the R n' R Hall of Fame.

7) Elvis Costello (8/25/54): Costello's someone you imagine as an older person. He's got the glasses and that thoughtful look to him. A reader, a contemplator, a man of wisdom and intellectual curiosity. He doesn't need to get up and scream, but he might when he's in the mood. And if not, he can always find another collaborator who's just glad they haven't been completely forgotten yet.

6) Motorhead (Lemmy Kilmister: 12/24/45): Long after the rest of us are deaf, Lemmy will still be turning the sound up past the pain threshold and behaving as if he didn't notice he'd just deafened another group of innocent concert-goers. I have trouble imagining Lemmy playing shuffleboard--though I do see him as an enthusiastic BINGO! Player. "I've got bloody Bingo over ‘ere." Even if he doesn't, nobody's going to tell him he doesn't.

5) AC/DC (Angus Young: 3/31/55, Malcolm Young: 1/6/53, Brian Johnson: 10/5/47): They've kept true to their sound and true to themselves. Never varied their attack. Never tried anything new. They're like a fast-food franchise where you always know what you're going to get. And if you like it, well, what could be better? Consistency counts for a lot. And I never understood how Angus kept up all that monkeying around when he was in his 20s, never mind in his ‘50s. Is this what happens when you don't take your Ritalin?

4) Rolling Stones (Jagger: 7/26/43, Richards: 12/18/43, Wood: 6/1/47, Watts: 6/2/41): Are they retirement specialists? I mean, I'm sure they've got 401Ks that people like us can only dream of. So they aren't doing it for the money anymore? Are they? I'd say it's because they love the music, but even Charlie admitted long ago that playing in this band involves an awful lot of waiting around. They could all easily play in a local club if it was just about the music. So it must be about having as many people as possible screaming all at once. And then surviving the after-show parties.

3) Bob Dylan (5/24/41): Anyone who can name the tune he's playing within the first 30 seconds wins a prize. I've seen Bob several times and he had the audience guessing through many of the songs. Between his constant melodic reinvention and his tendency to mumble, it isn't always obvious what he's up to. Which is how this guy likes it in the first place.

2) Bruce Springsteen (9/23/49): OK, he no longer plays those four to five hour concerts. That's actually a good thing. It should be entertainment, after all, and not an endurance test. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he insists on writing and recording new material that while sometimes lacking the firepower of his greatest hits still manages to sound like the work of a man actively involved in all aspects of his career--not just the retirement planning aspects.

1) Neil Young (11/12/45): Watching Neil Young lumber from one end of the stage to the other defying age, gravity and whatever conventions you've signed up suggests that someone should be checking this man's urine for performance-enhancing substances--since when does an old guy maintain his own like this? Most guys his age gladly hop aboard a riding mower!