Ray Davies is fairly comfortable now (nothing like the Stones or surviving Beatles), and he's knighted, but I don't think he ever forgets where he came from (even more so, his brother Dave).

I think there's often an inverse ratio between financial success and artistic achievement. The music of the best-selling pop singers is normally as hollow as it is popular. And some of the most accomplished musicians often end up in pubs playing for drinks.

The Canterbury keyboardist Alan Gowen was so poor when he died that his bandmates put together a tribute album of his compositions to help Gowen's widow pay funeral expenses. (Gowen's composition "Morning Order" has been sampled by--and probably made lots of $$$ for two rappers.)