What? You thought that, in the best of all possible worlds, musical artists would be recognized strictly for their talent? Wake up and smell the cappuccino. An important element of any star's or would-be star's popularity is his or her sex appeal. The sex appeal of a band's frontman can make or break them, all other factors being equal. Where would Elvis or the Beatles have been without their legions of screaming fans, fainting and drooling at the mere sight of them? Successful? Probably. Legendary? I think not.
Today, the Back Street Boys stay at the top of the charts how? On the time tested formula...put three or more cute guys together singing and dancing and wearing outfits that display their masculine charms and the Drooling Fans will come...both figuratively and literally. If you think I'm exaggerating that point too broadly, then consider the plethora of female fans who have done everything from rush the stage, to toss room keys and undies onto the stage floorboards, and divest themselves of key articles of clothing while in the audience to display themselves to their heartthrobs.
So now we come to Trent Reznor. Commonly referred to as the dark genius behind the creation and success of Nine Inch Nails. Is it sexy to be brainy and tortured and dark? Or at least to project that image? Take a tour of the Ninternet sometime. It'll take about five minutes to answer that question. Or you could just ask me. Because I cheerfully number myself among some of the less rabid DFG's. The cheerful, perky and take-it-all-with-a-grain-of-humor variety.
There are varieties of Droolers you see. Basically they distill into three categories. The harmless-yet- obsessive type who enjoys fantasizing about her/his favorite rock star. The starting- to-sound-a-little- weird and out there obsessive variety. And the Trent-better-hire-extra-security-and-put-up-those- barbed-wire-fences variety! Thankfully, there aren't nearly as many of the last ones. Reznor had a cyber run-in with one last year when his account on AOL was apparently compromised by a female fan named Amber Applebaum who led him a not so merry chase by accessing and listening to his phone messages, charging things on his personal credit card, and in general making a pain in the ass of herself until a detective traced her down. Late this year word leaked out that the NIN boys were doing some live rehearsals at the Saenger Theater in New Orleans and a gathering of fans hopeful of meeting their idols appeared outside magically...at least some of whom were reportedly spectacularly undressed, especially for that area of town, which is not known to be very safe, even if you're dressed in chain mail armor.
