Nugent was a member of Damn Yankees, so if you saw them, you definitely saw Nugent
As far as legend, if you'r one who saves that term for acts like The Beatles, The Stones, and Led Zeppelin, no. Definitely not. But, it's a term that's bantered around a lot & Nugent was definitely a legitimate headline act and one of the best guitarists of the 70's. And in his 60's, he can still play songs like Great White Buffalo where Clapton apparently hasn't been able to do the "hard" version of Layla for a looooooooooong time.
RE: role model status. Nugent does not drink, smoke, or do drugs (can you imagine Nugent on drugs?
) and never has. So, any talk of role models would be on that note specifically. He likes to say something to the effect of, "They did drugs & they're all dead. I stayed clean, and I'm still Ted"
OTOH, he was notorious for shenanigans with underaged groupies, and cheating on his wives, though probably no worse than many others. Vince Neil of Motley Crue once bragged that having their way with mother/daughter combos became so easy, they starting trying to find grandmother/mother/daughter combos instead. But, Ted did move his 17-year-old girlfriend in with him when he was MUCH older, and like most stuff Ted did & does, he was not discreet about it.
Certainly, Ted is notorious for his political stance. You do have to give credit where it's due.
Other than Ted & Bono, I can't think of anyone else in the music industry as passionate OR knowledgable on their causes. They both put their all into it and actually know what they're talking about - agree with them or otherwise. And that's fairly unique among musicians. I think that what turns people off is his approach & the fact that his cause is not politically correct.
His insistance on baiting deer is one that doesn't sit well with a lot of hunters & honestly sitting over a pile of corn isn't how I do it (nor would it even be legal in my home state). OTOH, Ted sees no distinction between sitting over a pile of corn on the ground, or sitting over a pond wating for a deer to come to drink, or sitting over a grainfield waiting for them to feed. Many hunters & game departments DO make that distinction, but he does kind of have a point. As with any other stand Ted makes, he IS consistent in his stance and makes no apologies for it.
One thing about his hunting shows is that he is a huge proponent of taking does and inferior bucks which is an important part of conservation. Too many of these shows focus strictly on the trophy buck which does very little to control the population. Nugent focuses on harvesting meat, which he correctly identifies as organic meat. He's also a fan of organic veggies, and plants about 500 trees a year.
In short, I like Ted. I love much of his music, and I think the guy is a giant walking soundbite. I may not always agree with what he has to say or how he says it, but good for him for speaking his mind & for doing the research to actually know something about the subject.
Not that I was even a huge fan but there were some songs I liked
