Brandon's Buzz

Honey from the Hive is taking a brief breather this Sunday so that I can bring you a Brandon’s Buzz exclusive presentation. A few days ago,
I got a chance to speak with ace entertainment reporter Shaun Robinson (who has covered major national news stories for local outlets across the country, including an award-winning stint right cheer in Austin, Texas; and who is currently the class of Access Hollywood) about the continuing feature — Living Legends, which shines a light on some of the most compelling and creative artists of our time — that she contributes to the series, and she got candid about the latest Legends to be profiled, as well as about the repetitive, mentally trying grind that her job can sometimes become.

BRANDON’S BUZZ: I’ve heard you say in other interviews that in your line of work, you get caught sometimes shining the spotlight on folks who don’t really deserve all the attention they get.

SHAUN ROBINSON: Exactly.

Given your hard news background, do you ever have days where you just wanna go, “Give me a break, not one more Mel Gibson story! Not one more Lindsay Lohan story, not one more….” Does it ever get to you sometimes, the seeming monotony of entertainment journalism?

Well, one of the reasons that I love doing [Access Hollywood’s Living Legends] series is that I got a chance to talk to folks who are real stars, and I think, unfortunately, today, if a person is on TV, they get that ‘celebrity’ title, which I don’t think many of them deserve. But, you know… it’s what people are interested in. But I think people are also interested in hearing these legends talk about their careers and about what got them to ‘legend’ status, because the difference between [the Legends participants] and a lot of the folks that are ‘in the news’ is that these people have true longevity in our business. And I don’t think that the reality stars that are on TV today will have that longevity.

You know, when you think back to two decades ago, there was just Entertainment Tonight and maybe Hard Copy… the tabloids were just starting to come into their own, cable was a luxury in many homes, the internet was a faraway fantasy. And now there is TMZ and there is the internet and shows like the one I host [Brandon’s Buzz Radio]… what do you make of this path that we have all traveled down the last few years, with this explosion of outlets coronating and vilifying those who entertain us?

The business definitely has changed a lot since I got to Access Hollywood in 1999, and I think that… look, people love entertainment, people love peering into the lives of folks that they see on television or in the movies. I do think there is an invasion of privacy that one day will have to be addressed on a very serious level, i.e. certain paparazzi chasing celebrities down the street and putting the lives of other people in danger. There’s a hunting and a stalking of many celebrities now that disturbs me, and I think that really has to be dealt with.

Talk to me about this Living Legends series you’re doing on Access Hollywood — we’re talking about Neil Diamond, Rod Stewart, Billy Joel, Smokey… couldn’t you have at least picked artists with some lasting mass appeal?! I mean, what’s with these amateurs?!

[Laughs] I just love this series, and these are people that have really changed the face of our culture! Neil Diamond talks about growing up and working in his father’s lingerie shop and helping women put on their girdles — nice work if you can get it, if you’re a teenage guy! And Smokey Robinson talks about growing up right down the street from Diana Ross and how she would ask him for advice about getting into the business. Billy Joel talks about the first time he laid eyes on Christie Brinkley — Christie and Elle MacPherson were leaning on his piano while he was playing at a little piano bar in the islands, and he looked up and saw these two beautiful women and said, ‘Oh my goodness, this is going to be a really, really great day!’ And Rod Stewart talks about the influence of Maggie May, the older woman who he had an intimate encounter with.

Having sat and conversed with these men, mega-selling and beloved musicians, all of them, is there a common thread between them that makes them — I mean, Lady GaGa and Ke$ha, they’re successes for one year, this year, but you’re bringing the spotlight to people who have been successful for upwards of forty years here. Is there a link between them, a common thread that makes them who they are?

I think the common link is — first of all, a God-given talent, and they nurtured their talent, and it wasn’t about being famous, it was about being true to their artistry. And also, the perseverance. Many people may have told them no, but they kept on until they got that yes, and they knew that one day, they would get that yes. It was not about being on the magazine cover or on TV, it was just about the art.

names dropped with reckless abandon: Billy Joel, Christie Brinkley, Diana Ross, Elle MacPherson, Ke$ha, Lady GaGa, Lindsay Lohan, Mel Gibson, Neil Diamond, Rod Stewart, Shaun Robinson, Smokey Robinson