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Sly Stone, 1943 -
For three decades Sly Stone -- one of popular music's most dynamic and un-pigeonhole-able stars -- lived in almost complete seclusion, occasionally emerging for guest spots during friends' live shows and engaging in a much-publicized "back from oblivion" profile in Vanity Fair magazine in 2007.
In this photo: Sly Stone
Photo: Fotos International/Getty Images
1974
Greta Garbo, 1905 - 1990
In 1999 the American Film Institute ranked the beautiful, mysterious Swedish actress as the fifth greatest female star of all time. In the 1950s she bought an apartment in New York City, where she lived for the rest of her life, hardly venturing out, refusing all interviews. None other than the formidable Bette Davis once said of her: "I cannot analyze this woman's acting. I only know that no one else so effectively worked in front of a camera."
In this photo: Greta Garbo
Photo: Fox Photos/Getty Images
1935
Syd Barrett, 1946 - 2006
Syd Barrett -- front, pictured with Pink Floyd bandmates Roger Waters, Nick Mason, and Rick Wright -- was often called "the most famous recluse in rock," and it's hard to argue with the tag. A founding member of Pink Floyd and the band's leader early on -- especially on the amazing, scarily great debut album, Piper at the Gates of Dawn -- Barrett gradually succumbed to mental illness and the effects of massive self-dosing with LSD over the years, and for the last decades of his life lived as a recluse. He died of pancreatic cancer in 2006. The Floyd song, "Shine on You Crazy Diamond," is a tribute to Barrett.
In this photo: Pink Floyd
Photo: Keystone Features/Getty Images
July 1967
Bettie Page, 1923 - 2008
Page was the pin-up girl of the 1950s, as well as the most recognizable fetish model (boots, leather, whips, the works) of the era. She was something of a recluse late in life -- attributed to a number of factors, including a 1979 diagnosis of schizophrenia.
In this photo: Bettie Page
Photo: Archive Photos/Getty Images
1955
Howard Hughes, 1905 - 1976
Visionary, aviator, film producer and director, and for years one of the richest men in the world, Howard Hughes is probably remembered today more for his eccentric behavior and reclusiveness late in life than his technical genius and badass, maverick persona. In his final years he lived in a curtained penthouse at the Desert Inn hotel in Vegas - one of five casino hotels he owned. Engineering genius, squire of Hollywood beauties, and battler against long odds, he was a broken, battered soul when he died. One can't help feeling that, for all of his accomplishments - and there were so many, from his aviation records to his Hollywood triumphs - much of Hughes' life must have been a day-to-day horror.
In this photo: Howard Hughes
Photo: J. R. Eyerman/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images
1947
Lauryn Hill, 1975 -
Phenomenally talented, occasionally controversial, and hardly seen in public -- either performing or otherwise -- in years, the former Fugees singer/songwriter Lauryn Hill is a genuine creative force. Unfortunately, her output is also incredibly spotty, both in frequency and quality; but there's no denying her influence (Alicia Keys, John Legend, and others readily sing her praises) or the fascination she still generates in literally millions of music fans.
In this photo: Lauryn Hill
Photo: Paul Hawthorne/Getty Images
March 6, 2006
Doris Day, 1922 -
Doris Day, a terrific singer and under-appreciated actress who was one of the biggest stars in the world in the 1950s and '60s, effectively dropped out of sight in recent years, and reportedly lives alone on a ranch in rural California. A long-time animal rights activist, Day won the prestigious Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement in film in 1989 -- but skipped the Oscars ceremony that year, and the award was bestowed in absentia. Pictured: Day on the set of the 1953 Warner Bros. musical, Calamity Jane.
In this photo: Doris Day
Photo: Ed Clark/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
1953
Peter Green (Fleetwood Mac founder), 1946 -
One of the greatest blues-rock guitarists of all time, Green founded Fleetwood Mac in 1967. Drug abuse and schizophrenia were major plagues in his life for decades, and he spent much of the 1980s living alone, on the very margins of society. He has occasionally surfaced over the years, since leaving Fleetwood Mac in 1970, playing side projects and, as recently as 2009, fronting a band called Peter Green and Friends. Above, the original Fleetwood Mac lineup, left to right: Mick Fleetwood, Green, Jeremy Spencer, and John McVie.
In this photo: Fleetwood Mac
Photo: Keystone Features/Getty Images
June 17, 1968
Agnetha Faltskog (Abba), 1959 -
Singer with the Swedish superstar pop act, Abba, Agnetha Faltskog retreated from the public eye in the late 1980s, living for years on a remote island off the coast of Sweden. She recently has been seen in public -- at the 2008 Stockholm premiere of the movie Mama Mia! for example -- but is still, generally speaking, intensely limelight-shy.
In this photo: Agnetha Faltskag of ABBA
Photo: Ake Skoglund/Getty Images
October 1982
Bobby Fischer, 1943 - 2008
Genius, chess champion (still the only American to be World No. 1), Holocaust denier, and all-around enigma, Fischer largely disappeared from public view in the 1980s, occasionally popping up to utter something outlandish -- he called the 9/11 terror attacks on the U.S. "wonderful news" -- and ultimately renouncing his American citizenship. He was granted Icelandic citizenship in 2005, 33 years after he bested Russian world champ Boris Spassky in a celebrated match played in Iceland's capital, Reykjavík.
In this photo: Bobby Fischer
Photo: Carl Mydans/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
April 1962
Axl Rose, 1962 -
Frontman for what was, for a while there, the greatest rock and roll band on the planet, Axl Rose retreated into semi-seclusion for years in the 1990s, verbally sparring from afar with his old Guns N' Roses band mates and working -- and working, and working -- on the long-delayed Chinese Democracy album that he hoped would cement his reputation as a songwriter and producer who had to be reckoned with. (It didn't.)
In this photo: Axl Rose ofGuns N Roses
Photo: Kevin Mazur Archive/WireImage
1980's
Emily Dickinson, 1830 - 1886
Dickinson, "the Belle of Amherst," published few poems during her lifetime, but since her death is regarded as a great and unique American artist. For years, she lived as a recluse -- albeit an active recluse, maintaining correspondence with friends and other literary types -- in her hometown of Amherst, Mass. Her poems, seemingly so simple, grow more mysterious and resonant the more familiar one becomes with them. ("Because I could not stop for Death - / He kindly stopped for me - / The Carriage held but just Ourselves - / And Immortality.")
In this photo: Emily Dickinson
Photo: Three Lions/Getty Images
1850
Brian Wilson, 1942 -
The driving creative force behind the Beach Boys and number 52 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All Time," Wilson famously retreated to his bedroom for several years in the early 1970s, doing cocaine, watching TV, occasionally dabbling in songwriting, and gorging to the point where he became dangerously obese. He eventually sought and received treatment for bipolar disorder, and gradually returned to making music, including live performances.
In this photo: Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys
Photo: Lester Cohen/WireImage
June 1977
Harper Lee, 1926 -
Perhaps Lee, who retired from the public eye after the publication and enormous success of her only novel, 1960's To Kill A Mockingbird, isn't so much a recluse as simply and genuinely a private person. After all, it's not as if she went into hiding after 1960. Instead, she just didn't write any more books, and evidently had zero interest in keeping her name and face on TV or in magazines and newspapers, in hopes of somehow wringing a few more minutes of fame from the media. For 50 years she's led a quiet life in Alabama, shunning requests for interviews.
In this photo: Harper Lee
Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Images
1960
Glenn Gould 1932 - 1982
A Canadian pianist renowned as perhaps the 20th-century's greatest interpreter Johann Sebastian Bach's music. Pictured: As he often did, Gould soaks his hands in a sink to limber up his fingers, starting with lukewarm water and gradually raising the temperature to hot before performing at a Columbia recording studio.
In this photo: Glenn Gould
Photo: Gordon Parks/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
March 1956
