TL;DR
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A Sixty and Me contributor argues that Billy Joel’s “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me” offers a metaphor for aging on one’s own terms. Drawing on his work as a musician and entertainer, he challenges assumptions that older adults should avoid rock music, travel and new activities.
A contributor to Sixty and Me has used Billy Joel’s “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me” to argue that older adults should decide for themselves how to spend their time, rather than follow expectations about quiet lives, restrained tastes or declining activity. The essay draws on the writer’s decades as a musician and senior entertainer, along with his travel and plans to perform again.
The writer says he has worked as a musician since 1972 and has been gigging as a senior entertainer since 1992. He initially leaned on songs from the Great American Songbook, but found that audiences also wanted to sway, dance and jitterbug. As musical tastes among the older audiences he performs for have shifted, he says, performers have moved from Elvis and the Beatles toward music from the late 1960s and early 1970s. He once joked that he would eventually play Bruce Springsteen at a retirement home and writes that the moment is getting closer.
The essay treats Joel’s 1980 song as a metaphor for resisting pressure to change one’s tastes or identity to fit others’ expectations. The writer recalls that Joel faced criticism for being seen as a pop artist with a formulaic style, despite a repertoire that included songs such as “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant” and “New York State of Mind.” The essay says “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me” reached number one for two weeks and points to Joel’s sold-out Madison Square Garden residencies as evidence of continued audience interest. These details are presented as the writer’s account, not as a new report about Joel.
The contributor also describes traveling frequently with his wife, saying they may be home for two weeks before leaving again. He says they planned and saved for the trips, and argues that travel should not be treated as inappropriate at a certain age. After taking a couple of years off, he writes that at 69 he is looking to return to performing at brew pubs and senior communities, with a set that may include Springsteen and Taylor Swift alongside standards.
Choosing How to Age
The essay’s point is not that every older adult should travel extensively or perform music. It is that age alone should not prescribe a person’s preferred activities. By connecting rock music with travel, dancing and learning, the writer makes a case for treating later life as a period in which people can still make choices, rather than as a fixed retreat from public or energetic pursuits.
That argument speaks to familiar assumptions: that older people prefer quiet, that certain music belongs to the young, or that major decisions such as travel should be shaped mainly by what relatives expect. The writer says he and his wife planned financially for their trips and notes that their children will still receive an inheritance. His account makes the distinction between having the resources to make a choice and being judged for making it.
The piece is a personal essay, not research measuring how widespread ageism is or proving that a particular approach improves health or well-being. Its relevance lies in the questions it raises about who sets the rules for older adults’ leisure, relationships and ambitions—and how those rules can shape what people feel permitted to do.
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A Musician’s Changing Setlist
The writer’s perspective comes from working across generations of popular music and performing for older audiences. He says the Great American Songbook was his initial foundation in senior entertainment, but that audiences also wanted opportunities to move and dance. His account of the repertoire shifting toward Elvis, the Beatles and later rock is offered as an observation from his own gigs; the essay does not provide audience data or describe a formal survey.
Joel’s song supplies the essay’s central image: staying with one’s own musical identity even when critics or commercial pressures favor a new style. The writer extends that idea to aging, contrasting cultural expectations of calm and retirement with examples of older adults taking up activities. He lists a retired executive who started playing bass in a cover band at 68, a 74-year-old competitive swimmer, a couple who moved onto a sailboat at 70, and a widower who learned to dance at 80. These are illustrations in the essay, not independently documented case studies.
The writer also cites activist Ashton Applewhite’s line, “Fear of dying is human. Fear of aging is cultural.” He refers to artists including Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell and Johnny Cash as examples of musicians whose work continued to evolve beyond youth. The essay’s broader claim is that creative interests and personal change need not end at a particular age.
““Fear of dying is human. Fear of aging is cultural.””
— The Sixty and Me contributor, quoting Ashton Applewhite’s book This Chair Rocks
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What the Essay Does Not Measure
The source is a first-person essay, and its anecdotes and interpretations are not accompanied by independent reporting, research findings or broader audience figures. It does not establish how common the activities described are, how older adults generally respond to age-related expectations, or whether the musical shifts the writer observes apply beyond his own performances.
The supplied material also gives no publication date, and it does not specify which Madison Square Garden residencies or sales figures underpin its description of Joel’s concerts as sold out. The piece does not report a confirmed booking for the writer’s return to performing; he says he is actively looking for opportunities. The timing, venues and setlist of any future gigs remain unknown.
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A Possible Return to Performing
The next development described is the contributor’s effort to return to entertainment after a break of a couple of years. He says he is seeking work at brew pubs and senior communities, but the essay names no confirmed performances or dates. If those bookings come through, he expects to include familiar standards alongside Springsteen and possibly Taylor Swift.
For readers, the essay leaves an open invitation to reflect on activities they have been told are “for the young,” and on whether those expectations have influenced their choices. It does not prescribe a single response; its central argument is that older adults should be able to set their own priorities, according to their interests and circumstances.
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Key Questions
What is the Sixty and Me essay about?
It uses Billy Joel’s “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me” as a metaphor for older adults choosing their own activities and tastes instead of following assumptions about how they should age.
Is the article reporting a new Billy Joel release or event?
No. The song provides the essay’s central metaphor. The supplied source does not report a new release, concert announcement or other new development involving Joel.
What does the writer say about his own plans?
The contributor says that at 69, after a break of a couple of years, he is looking for opportunities to perform at brew pubs and senior communities. He has not named confirmed dates or venues.
What examples does the essay give of older adults trying new activities?
Examples include a retired executive taking up bass at 68, a 74-year-old competitive swimmer, a widower learning to dance at 80, and a grandmother returning to school. They are anecdotes presented by the writer, not independently verified case studies.
Does the essay provide research on ageism or aging?
No. It presents the author’s experiences, observations and examples, but does not include new research or data measuring ageism or the prevalence of the activities it describes.
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