You've played the biggest stadiums, you've had Bob Dylan, Jack Nicholson and Eddie Murphy coming backstage to pay tribute.
Rolling Stone magazine says your records are in the top 10 of all time. So where do you go now?
Terry Chimes, drummer with the Clash, literally turned his back on rock and roll - and became a chiropractor in Essex. His stage appearances are now limited to motivational seminars for doctors.
Terry Chimes: "Time to completely change"
So how did he get from playing in a band to the treatment table?
"I felt it was time to completely change - and over the time I'd been a musician, I'd already become a non-drinking, non-smoking, non-drug-taking vegetarian who does yoga."
And that's not mentioning the triathlons.
"People say how can you prefer treating patients to being on stage in front of 100,000 people? But if you can get someone healthy, there's a satisfaction in that which is much more profound."
Instead of being an ex-rocker "always looking at their scrapbooks", the 51-year-old, who also played with Black Sabbath, is writing a book about well-being and health.
Strummer then played with the Mescaleros
Strummer's performances were particularly manic, described in the new biography as being "like a man possessed, veins bulging, in an almost transcendental state, like he was speaking in tongues".
Chimes says this was also a reflection of the unhappiness that dogged Strummer off stage.
"He didn't let himself be happy. The problem with Joe was that he'd feel guilty if he was comfortable. You'd be on a sun lounger by a hotel pool having a drink and in five minutes he'd get distinctly uneasy and say we should be doing something more purposeful.
"He had a vision that his life should be about helping people, doing meaningful, profound things. He thought he should be out there fighting for a cause."
The west London-based Clash were influenced by local reggae music
And with the band's huge commercial success - particularly in the United States - it became even more of a challenge not to get sucked into the rock circus.
Chimes says that when the Beach Boys came across the Clash, what most appalled them about the English punk rockers was that they were still carrying their own suitcases.
And he recalls Strummer's horror when he discovered that a safety-conscious Volvo taking them to a gig had the child-locks fastened - so "it looked like Joe Strummer had a chauffeur to open the doors for him".
Chimes left the Clash for a second time 1983, when the feuding and in-fighting made it difficult to carry on. "I wasn't enjoying it, so I stopped."
When he decided to retrain as a chiropractor, he didn't tell anyone else on the course that he'd been in a band. "I didn't tell them in case they thought I was a crackpot," he says.
But then Should I Stay Or Should I Go was re-released and went to number one - and the other students spotted him in the video. "Then they thought I was even more weird for not talking about it."
Alternative therapy
Does he miss the old days?
Not at all, he says. The chiropractor and alternative therapy business has boomed, with his firm becoming one of the biggest in Europe. And he's more interested in spiritual matters, saying how important his Catholic faith is to him now.
Strummer is commemorated by a charity, festival, forest and a train
It's a long, long way from the Clash's angry songs that used to terrify the tabloids.
But the band's reputation shows no sign of disappearing * and Strummer's legacy is taking unexpected routes.
Strummer was one of the first performers to make his tours carbon neutral, and was instrumental in promoting the idea of carbon offsetting. There's a forest planted in his memory on the Isle of Skye.
He is also remembered through a music charity, Strummerville * the forthcoming Babyshambles single will be a fundraiser. This summer saw a Strummercamp music festival in his memory. There's even a train named after him.
Salewicz, a veteran reporter of the fickleness of rock reputations, says the Clash are now ensconced in the top three of the most influential UK bands, alongside the Beatles and Rolling Stones.
Rolling Stone magazine says your records are in the top 10 of all time. So where do you go now?
Terry Chimes, drummer with the Clash, literally turned his back on rock and roll - and became a chiropractor in Essex. His stage appearances are now limited to motivational seminars for doctors.
Terry Chimes: "Time to completely change"
So how did he get from playing in a band to the treatment table?
"I felt it was time to completely change - and over the time I'd been a musician, I'd already become a non-drinking, non-smoking, non-drug-taking vegetarian who does yoga."
And that's not mentioning the triathlons.
"People say how can you prefer treating patients to being on stage in front of 100,000 people? But if you can get someone healthy, there's a satisfaction in that which is much more profound."
Instead of being an ex-rocker "always looking at their scrapbooks", the 51-year-old, who also played with Black Sabbath, is writing a book about well-being and health.
Strummer then played with the Mescaleros
Strummer's performances were particularly manic, described in the new biography as being "like a man possessed, veins bulging, in an almost transcendental state, like he was speaking in tongues".
Chimes says this was also a reflection of the unhappiness that dogged Strummer off stage.
"He didn't let himself be happy. The problem with Joe was that he'd feel guilty if he was comfortable. You'd be on a sun lounger by a hotel pool having a drink and in five minutes he'd get distinctly uneasy and say we should be doing something more purposeful.
"He had a vision that his life should be about helping people, doing meaningful, profound things. He thought he should be out there fighting for a cause."
The west London-based Clash were influenced by local reggae music
And with the band's huge commercial success - particularly in the United States - it became even more of a challenge not to get sucked into the rock circus.
Chimes says that when the Beach Boys came across the Clash, what most appalled them about the English punk rockers was that they were still carrying their own suitcases.
And he recalls Strummer's horror when he discovered that a safety-conscious Volvo taking them to a gig had the child-locks fastened - so "it looked like Joe Strummer had a chauffeur to open the doors for him".
Chimes left the Clash for a second time 1983, when the feuding and in-fighting made it difficult to carry on. "I wasn't enjoying it, so I stopped."
When he decided to retrain as a chiropractor, he didn't tell anyone else on the course that he'd been in a band. "I didn't tell them in case they thought I was a crackpot," he says.
But then Should I Stay Or Should I Go was re-released and went to number one - and the other students spotted him in the video. "Then they thought I was even more weird for not talking about it."
Alternative therapy
Does he miss the old days?
Not at all, he says. The chiropractor and alternative therapy business has boomed, with his firm becoming one of the biggest in Europe. And he's more interested in spiritual matters, saying how important his Catholic faith is to him now.
Strummer is commemorated by a charity, festival, forest and a train
It's a long, long way from the Clash's angry songs that used to terrify the tabloids.
But the band's reputation shows no sign of disappearing * and Strummer's legacy is taking unexpected routes.
Strummer was one of the first performers to make his tours carbon neutral, and was instrumental in promoting the idea of carbon offsetting. There's a forest planted in his memory on the Isle of Skye.
He is also remembered through a music charity, Strummerville * the forthcoming Babyshambles single will be a fundraiser. This summer saw a Strummercamp music festival in his memory. There's even a train named after him.
Salewicz, a veteran reporter of the fickleness of rock reputations, says the Clash are now ensconced in the top three of the most influential UK bands, alongside the Beatles and Rolling Stones.
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