Artits who chose to move away from the limelight

[Udi Koomran]

I am forever fascinated by artists that had exposure and commercial successes who chose an idiosyncratic path
examples :
Scott Walker
David Sylvian
Mike Patton Trey Spruance
Beefheart (?)

any more examples?
Thoughts and insights?

[Piskie]

Robin Williamson

[Marco]

Mark Hollis.

[Halmyre]

Bill Berry
Agnetha Faltskog
John Deacon
D'arcy Wretzky

[thedunno]

Mark Hollis immediately come to mind.

And the Gentle Giant members but some returned as "three friends".

[pb2015]

Julie Driscoll

[pb2015]

Another possible example...G.E. Stinson. Left the successful New Age group Shadowfax to go into esoteric jazz/rock.

[Dana5140]

D'arcy Wretzky

I'm not so sure she chose to walk away. I do understand life has not been easy for her.

[JJ88]

Bobbie Gentry. Hasn't been involved with the music industry for at least forty years. I don't know to what extent she's even been involved in reissues, of which there have been several in recent years.

Obviously, Syd Barrett...though again maybe not sure that 'choice' is the right word.

There are people in the latterly-dubbed 'acid folk' world who vanished and then re-emerged decades later. Vashti Bunyan and Shelagh McDonald spring to mind (the former returned to recording, the latter again had some issues which necessitated her withdrawal, I believe).

[moecurlythanu]

^ One of those ladies (or both) disappeared with a gypsy caravan, iirc. For a looong time.

[Halmyre]

I'm not so sure she chose to walk away. I do understand life has not been easy for her.

Obviously, Syd Barrett...though again maybe not sure that 'choice' is the right word.

I suppose if we start adding those in that category the list will grow rapidly. Starting with a lot of Fleetwood Mac members.

And then there's Rod Evans. Jumped, or pushed?

[Dave (in MA)]

any more examples?

Peter Baumann.

[bigbassdrum]

Andy Partridge - was it really due to stage fright?

[walt]

Mike Ratledge

[Steve983]

Does anyone else remember that we were temporarily led to believe that Neal Morse had quit music when he left Spock's Beard? Then he came back, and 194 albums later...

by the way, 'Artits' is an excellent typo

[progmatist]

Alanis Morissette was completely overwhelmed by the sudden fame of Jagged Little Pill. She nearly quit the biz altogether. But after spending time in the anonymity of India, with its 1.2B population, she recovered enough to release her follow up.

And then there's Rod Evans. Jumped, or pushed?

Given Blackmood was involved, most likely pushed...even if not directly

[pb2015]

Bill Berry
Agnetha Faltskog
John Deacon
D'arcy Wretzky

If we're mentioning musicians who left a high profile gig and apparently didn't try to find another one, a great prog example is Jeffrey Hammond from Tull.

[pb2015]

One case I find interesting..drummer Phillip Wilson from the 60's AACM scene. Left the early Art Ensemble to join Paul Butterfield and co-wrote the song "Love March" that the Butterfield band played at Woodstock. Then went back to avant garde jazz for most of the rest of his career before he died in 1992.

[jamesmanzi]

Peter Green? Didn't he pretty much leave FMac because he didn't want to make money off of music anymore? (among other issues of course).

[interbellum]

Kate Bush (although she occassionally steps/stepped into the light).

[Scott Bails]

Neil Peart seems like an obvious one.

[Jaco]

Quirky one but John Shearer , drummer with Steve Hackett , became a magician, he also ran a drum store in London

[Progatron]

Jeffrey Hammond (Hammond). Said he'd play with Tull for five years and no more. Sure enough, he quit after five years and has painted pictures ever since.

[StarThrower]

Cat Stevens
Brian Wilson
Bill Withers

[Steve F.]

Andy Partridge - was it really due to stage fright?

Yes. Absolutely.