Heyl: Time catches up with rockers, even those who clean up their acts

First one, then the other. Donnie Iris was stunned.

“A friend texted me that (David) Bowie died. An unbelievable shock,” the dean of Western Pennsylvania rockers recalled Thursday. “Same thing with Glenn Frey. I just couldn't believe it, man.”

Many people couldn't. They had difficulty grasping that those longtime residents of the classic rock community's most upscale environs died so abruptly — and so ordinarily.

Musical legends aren't supposed to succumb to the typical maladies that doom mere mortals. But for those of advancing age, those who didn't live by the “Hope I die before I get old” creed of The Who's “My Generation,” what other option exists?

Bowie died of cancer on Jan. 10, two days after the musical chameleon's 69th birthday. Eagles founding member Frey, 67, died Monday from a lethal combination of rheumatoid arthritis, acute ulcerative colitis and pneumonia.

If you grew up in the 1970s or early '80s, the artists who helped provide the soundtrack of your youth are dropping with alarming frequency. The past month brought the deaths of singer Natalie Cole, 65, from congestive heart failure and heavy metal band Motorhead leader Lemmy Kilmister, 70, from cancer.

“A lot of these guys quit doing drugs, quit doing the stupid things they did when they were young,” Iris said. “Now that they're older, they're dying of the same things everyone else dies of.”

Iris, the pride of Beaver Falls, rose to prominence with The Jaggerz. The band enjoyed its first national hit, “The Rapper,” in 1970, a year after Bowie's breakout single, “Space Oddity.”

A decade later, while Frey enjoyed success with The Eagles' monster album “The Long Run,” Iris scored another national hit — “Ah! Leah!” — with his band The Cruisers. Iris is semi-retired, but his songs remain a staple on Pittsburgh stations such as WDVE-FM, and he performs about a dozen shows a year.

Iris, 72, is older than the four recently departed artists but said his health is good. He attributed that in part to his having quit smoking.

“I'm glad I kicked the cigarette habit. All they do is blacken your lungs,” he said. “I do enjoy a good cigar though, man. With cigars, it's all about the taste.”

Iris reluctantly agreed that we might be at the beginning of a period in which we'll bid farewell to other rock giants. Paul McCartney is 73. Mick Jagger is 72. The Who's Roger Daltry, who famously sang that he wanted to expire before reaching senior citizen status, is 71.

“Hopefully, those guys stay healthy and stay around for a long time and keep recording new things, but they are at an age where a lot of people die,” Iris said.

“They're not immune to it.”

Eric Heyl is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 412-320-7857 or eheyl@tribweb.com.