Around the world young people are spending (36) sums of money to listen to rock music. Forbes Magazine (37) that at least fifty rock stars have (38) of between two million and six million dollars (39) year.
"It doesn’t make sense," says Johnny Mathis, one of the (40) music millionaires, who made a million dollars a year when he was most popular, in the 1950s. "Performers aren’t (41) this kind of money. In fact, nobody is."
But the rock stars’ admirers seem to (42) . Those who love rock music spend about two billion dollars a year for records. They pay 150 million to see rock stars in person.
Some (43) think the customers are buying more than music. According to one theory, (44) There is no gulf between the audience and the performer. Every boy and girl in the audience thinks, "I could sing like that." (45) . Young people are glad to pay to worship a rock star because it is a way of worshipping themselves.
Luck is a key word for explaining the success of many. In 1972 one of the luckiest was Don McLean, who wrote and sang "American Pie." McLean earned more than a million dollars from recordings of "American Pie." Then, too, (46) .