A teen idol is a famous person who generates attention from large numbers of teenagers, who follow their every move. These are usually actors or pop singers. The category includes some of the greatest performers of all time and some of the most inconsequential.
Although hot performers have been attracting young people since the snake caught Eve's attention, the teen idol is primarily a phenomenon of mass communications.
The earliest manifestation of the teen idol may have been Rudolph Valentino with his slick good looks and winning way with women in such silent movies as The Sheik, but it was probably Frank Sinatra's appeal to the bobby soxers that made the category a permanent part of show business. Eddie Fisher also had a huge following of screaming and swooning teen-aged fans, but many of them turned against him when he divorced Debbie Reynolds in 1959 to marry Elizabeth Taylor. Brenda Lee was the first female teen idol to achieve widespread popularity.
The great success of Elvis Presley in the 1950s led clever promoters to the deliberate creation of teen idols such as Frankie Avalon and Fabian. His debut in a television movie about the phenomenon, The Idol, made a teen idol out of Tommy Sands. Ricky Nelson, a performer of rockabilly music also became a teen idol via televison.
It is the essence of the teen idol to appeal to the burgeoning sexuality of the young without in any way threatening it. The difference is graphically illustrated by the early career of Presley, who started out playing hard rhythm and blues and jazzed-up country music until he was retrofitted as a teen idol by his management. The lyrics of his "Teddy Bear" explicitly document the change:
- Don't wanna be your tiger, 'cause tigers play too rough,
- Don't wanna be your lion, 'cause lions aren't the kind you love enough;
- I just wanna be your teddy bear.
Likewise, the Beatles were teen idols; the Rolling Stones, despite millions of young fans, were too rowdy and threatening to gain idol status.
The manufacture of idols has been greatly improved over the years since, with The Monkees another notable success in the art. The rise of MTV in the 1980s and the success of the boy bands of the 1990s are part of the same cavalcade.
People who have become teen idols, either through natural appeal or deliberate exploitation, or both, include:
- Christina Aguilera -- 1999 - present
- Frankie Avalon -- 1958 - mid-1960s
- The Beatles -- early 1960s - 1971
- David Cassidy -- early to mid-1970s
- Tom Cruise --early 1980s - mid-1990s
- Duran Duran -- 1980s (peak was 1981-1987)
- Fabian -- late 1950s - early 1960s (peak in 1959)
- Leif Garrett -- late 1970s (peak in 1977)
- Vanilla Ice -- 1990
- Tommy James -- mid- - late 1960s
- Brenda Lee -- 1959 - late 1960s
- Frankie Lymon -- 1955 - late 1950s
- Marky Mark -- 1991 - 1992
- Ricky Martin -- 1990s - present
- The Monkees -- mid- to late 1960s
- Ricky Nelson -- mid-1950s - 1964
- Freddy Prinze Jr. -- late 1990s - present
- Elvis Presley -- mid-1950s - mid-1960s
- Frank Sinatra -- 1942 - mid-1950s
- Britney Spears - late 1990s - present
- Justin Timberlake -- 1996 - present
- Rudolph Valentino -- late 1910s - late 1920s
- Prince William of Wales -- late 1990s - present
- Barry Williams -- late 1960s - early 1970s
see also: American Idol