I am sure everyone of us has at least one musician whose mystique has captivated us and we are endlessly delighted and fascinated by their music. At a personal level, every happy musical session is a stirring experience and musicians for me represent a medium we can enjoy but really can't understand. The only reason for this mystique can be that there are many dimensions of a musician that we never get to know.
That led me to think of a metaphor. That of a great car. Who can deny enjoying a fabulous car ride? Its smooth interiors, the silent speeding on a well laid road, the sights all around, the sense of adventure, the power and navigability of it... (Apart from the company we share within-but that's not relevant here).
But we never get to see the innards of a car. Its power chain, its design pedigree, its undercarriage that hides so many mechanisms we don't think about, its vast hidden power.
Don't you agree that we also seldom give a thought to the support mechanisms in the family and beyond who are essential to the musician's wellbeing, the mentors and gurus, the inspirations and role models, the deep stores of theortical knowledge, the learning curve and hard years of practice that embody every phrase of music that comes out, the hardware and software (=instruments and tools) they employ...the craftsmen, the drapers and seamstresses....
I hope you can see what I am saying. Even after thoroughly enjoying a musician's performance, i may have absolutely minimal understanding of what lies within and what lies behind the persona. That is the enduring mystique. I am sure every musician is aware of this, and perhaps prefers to keep it that way!
And I must make it clear I am not ever trying to reduce the idea of a musician to a performing machine... I think he or she is a great mystery!