We seem to take for granted that the best soul artists either flame out in a hellish end to their lives, or ascend to a heavenly oldies circuit where they're irrelevant. Are these two sad choices the only two inevitable options for these singers? Or is there some way we could do better and not fail them as fans and as a culture?

And obviously, may artists mature into having a great later stage of their careers, or move on to other interests. But we aren't even surprised when this happens to an icon. How can this be so common?