Celebrities Who Change Their Graph

By Greg Drugan

Apr 03, 2018

Since this is my first blog for RACC, I figured I’d give you some background info. I first started collecting sports autographs in the mid 1990s. The Indians had just went to the World Series and there were player appearances everywhere.

Since RACC is not sports oriented, I won’t go into details. However, living between two major Halls of Fame of Fame, football and rock and roll, provides many opportunities to graph celebs.

Anyway, I continued my sports collection until 2014 when I turned my attention to music. I have been going to concerts since 1982, but I never thought it was possible to meet the artists. I would just go to the shows and then go home like most everyone else.

However, it dawned on me, if you can catch athletes coming to or leaving the ballpark, you can do the same with musicians. Especially since there are a couple smaller venues in my area, the access to those musicians is much easier. Access at bigger venues is almost impossible.

Finally, I am also a concert photographer and reviewer. I’ve been to over 200 concerts in the past three years and I’ve interviewed everyone from Wayne Newton to Steve Vai and Ann Wilson. This gives me some credibility when it comes to music.

The topic I would like to discuss is how artists change their autographs over time.

I am a Steve Winwood fan and I finally got to see him earlier this month. A few fans patiently waited in the cold to meet this Hall of Famer after his show. His manager came out and said “Get your items ready. You can take pictures but no posed photos.” Cool, lay down the rules and I will abide by them.

My friend got him earlier in the day and posted about his signature. I was horrified when I saw the squiggles that were a combination of the Roman Numeral III and the Monster Energy drink logo.

I thought he might change it back to the “SW” that he normally had been signing for years after the show. Well, Mr. Winwood was more than gracious and signed for everyone there. I was one of the first ones that got him to sign. He took his time and proceeded to draw the squiggles. I thought to myself, “should I get another album signed? Maybe he will change.” Well, he did not. He signed the exact same way for everyone there.


My question is, have you seen any other dramatic changes in signatures over the years? My one friend got Winwood in the ‘80s and he signed every letter. Then he went to “SW” and now it’s whatever you want to call it.

Can you think of anyone else who has significantly changed their autograph over time?

Greg Drugan

I started collecting sports autographs in-person in the ‘90s when the Indians were rolling.  I switched to primarily music autographs back in 2014 when I became a concert photographer/reviewer. Musicians are much easier to get! Living between the Rock Hall and the Football HOF provides me ample opportunities to meet celebs.

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