So you've read that bookies are taking Vegas odds on whether or not Amy Winehouse shows up for her next gig. It's always nice when the younger generation emulates the older folks. But Winehouse has a ways to go if she's going to trounce the legends of who failed to show before her.
Whitney Houston: She cancelled on the Reverend Moon and has cited "sudden illness" in the past for missed appearances. She's visited rehab on occasion and her marriage has been in the tabloids for years. And when she does show up, she sings. And some of us kinda then wish she didn't show up in the first place.
Sly Stone: Even when he showed up for gigs he'd often leave before stagetime, deciding that shopping in a faraway city was more urgent than the need to take his fans higher with the music they paid to see.
The Doors: Jim Morrison had trouble with authority. And he liked to drink - a lot. So even when he did make it to the show, he was often not in any shape to really do more than burp and curse at the audience. Which was still preferable to hearing the immortal words: We're going to let Ray sing a few.
George Jones: He earned the nickname "No Show" Jones. Considering his shows usually didn't last longer than an hour, it's seems like even when he did perform it was almost like not getting a show. At least if you saw him in a dinner theater maybe you got a decent meal out of it.
Guns N' Roses: Their new album, Chinese Democracy, is due out any decade now. No, seriously, it's coming. And just to whet your appetite, Axl Rose and a bunch of guys he's hired to be Guns N' Roses could be coming to a town near you. If they don't cancel first. But they might. That's half the fun. That cool sense of "not knowing."