Why turning 30 shouldn't end your rock 'n' roll dreams

17 May 2020, 18:30 | Updated: 17 May 2020, 18:31

"Never trust anyone over 30" was the old hippie slogan. Nonsense, we say. Some of our favourite artists hit their creative peak when they hit the big 3-0.

1. Jarvis Cocker

   Pulp had released their first album, It, in 1983, when Jarvis was 20. Ten years later, aged 30, he recorded and released His 'N' Hers, the album that broke the band into the mainstream.

   

   Pulp - Do You Remember The First Time (Promo)

2. Dave Grohl

   The year Big Dave hit 30 was the year that There Is Nothing Left To Lose, an album that Grohl claims might be his favourite.

   

   Foo Fighters - Learn To Fly (Official Music Video)

3. Damon Albarn

   Recorded in the summer and autumn of 1998, when Damon turned 30, 13 was a more thoughtful and reflective album that spawned the songs Tender, Coffee And TV and No Distance Left To Run.

   

   Blur - No Distance Left To Run

4. Michael Stipe

   R.E.M. had been working away steadily for a decade when they hit the mainstream with their most popular album to that date, Out of Time. And it was recorded in the autumn of 1990, when Stipe was 30.

   

   R.E.M. - Losing My Religion (Official Music Video)

5. Noel Gallagher

   Be Here Now was one of the most highly-anticipated albums of all time - and certainly one of the fastest-selling. It was released three months after Noel hit the big 3-0.

   

   Oasis - D’You Know What I Mean? (Official Video)

6. Tim Burgess

   The acclaimed album Tellin' Stories was released just one month before frontman Tim Burgess hit 30 and included the tracks North Country Boy and One To Another.

   

   The Charlatans - North Country Boy

7. Robert Smith

   The Cure's Disintegration was released one month after Smith hit 30; the album is the ultimate "hitting 30 album", with tales of regret, memories and the passing of time. Alongside the stories of giant spiders, of course.

   

   The Cure - Pictures Of You

8. John Lennon

   The Beatles were done and dusted by October 1970, when Lennon had his 30th birthday. However, a summer of "primal scream" therapy in California had prompted him to make his most honest, raw and perhaps finest work, the Plastic Ono Band album.

   

   God (Remastered 2010)