People forgive a lot when they like something/someone and less when they don't, I wasn't even thinking generationally, though that certainly plays into tastes too. We're also fantastic at ret-conning our world view to fit how we feel today. How many people who loved Mohammed Ali as an old man, wouldn't have batted an eye to see him rot in jail for treason. How many would have admitted it?
Beatles, Elvis, Billie Holiday, Sammy Davis Jr., The Rolling Stones, Sinatra, The Clash, The Ramones, Blondie, Beastie Boys, Grandmaster Flash, RunDMC, NWA, KISS, all had (have had) detractors from one end of their careers or the other. People who just didn't like what they thought they represented at a certain time, or their style, or their politics. Each has had adoring fans too, willing to venerate them in all aspects because of their prominence or symbolic value in some other.
The complete picture is always something else. Crazy and performance arts have never been far apart...
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