re: the lives of old country singers vs. the new breed around today

Same reason you'll never see any other singer song writers like Lennon-McCartney, Jagger-Richards, or people that can work/pack out huge venues night after night like Elvis , Tom Jones, Neal Diamond, etc. We are told who our next stars will be by who wins on these karaoke type shows. There's some thing to be said about paying your dues, playing shite-hole bars 325 nights a year, being your own driver, roadie, tech, etc. It's that desire and hunger that fuels those type of artists and their creativity.