Now
that is actually an interesting topic of conversation. I was an artistic, shit-kicking punk and (like everyone else) I discovered that you cannot really change the world that way. I did, however, succeed on a wholly-unforeseen level by working
with the corporate media (albeit with an "indie" company). While there I managed to turn the spotlight on a few of my more outrageous, subversive icons, and one of them did accuse me of "selling out." What he did not understand is that yelling to a room-full of believers for 30 years will only get you so far; being beamed into the living rooms of millions of Americans will get you much, much farther (he quickly saw the light and apologized). Yes the "message" is watered-down by the medium, but you get to connect with more people, and they can take it from there. It's a deal with the devil to be sure, and if you are smart (and lucky) you can make it work for you and still succeed on a meaningful level.
Money does not negate artistic success, but it does eventually stunt the process.
You have hit the nail on the head BB! Fame is a poison, the effects of which cannot be understood from the outside. The more sensitive you are, the worse it is. I know a bit more about Morrissey's experience than the casual onlooker, and I can tell all and sundry that even a modicum of fame is explosive; being deified while living is a burden that no sane person can bear. In Morrissey's case he never had the skills to effectively cope (with often disastrous results).
Morrissey is not thriving, and his job is impossible: I do not envy him, and ultimately I have sympathy for him.
You mentioned Morrissey and Johnny Lydon: they have more in common than you may think. Mr. Lydon has the exact same complaints as Morrissey, but he's a bit more savvy about expressing them. Morrissey just missed the mainstream, and his "failure" was in part of his own making. Lydon was actually always farther from that kind of success. And yes - Morrissey is the greatest case-in-point that I can think of for contemplating artistic success, personal failure, and the terrible toll that the spotlight can take on even the strongest personality.
You should talk sense more often.