February 16th, 2009 NME Article:
Morrissey Reveals Retirement Plans - NME.com
FORMER SMITH'S FRONTMAN HINTS AT WHEN HE MIGHT CALL IT A DAY
Morrissey has suggested that he might retire after five more years in the music business.
The former Smiths frontman said that the chances of him carrying on as a singer for much longer after his 55th birthday were "slim". He is currently 49.
When asked if he could continue as a 55 or 60 year-old he told XFM, "I think it’s incredibly slim. For Heaven's sake! Really?"
He also talked about other older musicians, and how he believed few remain relevant into older age.
"I assume most people lose it because they become satisfied and they achieve everything they ever set out to achieve," he said. "More to the point, they become personally satisfied and that they're quite happy and it doesn't matter any more.
"It's very interesting that it's very hard to think of anybody who ages and still manages to mean anything."
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As to his last quote, the obvious example is Johnny Cash - his last five albums are tremendous and outstrip anything he did since the early 70s. The cause of that, of course, was his bravery in working with Rubin, who challenged him out of his comfort zone....
But JC is not the only one. Bowie's "Heathen" and "Reality" were at the very least a comparative return to form.
Springsteen still puts out good albums, if not classic ones.
There's also Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson intermittently, Loretta Lynn, BB King's last album was strong and he is 84! So Morrissey shouldn't retire - he should view ageing with this unique lens. My only wish is that he works with new musicians - ones who can play more tunefully and delicately (though I do think Alain is unfairly underrated)