Most musicians are only good at one thing – music. They gravitate toward that field because they have precious few other talents, with the exception of delivering pizzas or sleeping on their girlfriend’s couch.
Other musicians, meanwhile, are veritable Renaissance men/women, with multiple talents across multiple disciplines, some of which are not even in the arts. Can you name the famous musician by their extra-musical skill that we’ve listed here?
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1. This singer also ventured into politics
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Answer: Peter Garrett
Australia’s Midnight Oil were never afraid to get political in their music, but singer Peter Garrett went the extra mile of actually getting elected to political office. He served until his retirement in 2013.
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2. This famous guitarist is also a missile defense expert
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Answer: Jeff ‘Skunk’ Baxter
Guitarist Jeff “Skunk” Baxter may have been a member of such easygoing 1970s bands as Steely Dan and the Doobie Brothers, but he spent decades working in the field of missile defense. His consulting career saw him work alongside the Pentagon, Northrop Grumman Corp., and General Dynamics.
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3. This velvety-voiced soul singer turned to the Lord after a tragic event
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Answer: Al Green
The man behind such undisputed soul classics as “Take Me to the River” and “Let’s Stay Together” became a pastor after his 1970s heyday. In 1974, his girlfriend physically attacked him and then died by suicide, causing Green to leave the secular world behind and become a man of the cloth.
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4. This legendary heavy metal band’s vocalist once worked as an EMT
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Answer: David Lee Roth
In the early 2000s, after being out of Van Halen for close to two decades, lead singer David Lee Roth took on a new career. He became an emergency medical technician in New York City, where one assumes he had plenty of opportunities to see all kinds of horrible things.
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5. This former bassist of an iconic rock band also dabbled in the fashion industry
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Answer: Ross Valory
Original bassist Ross Valory stopped holding down the bottom end for arena rock giants Journey some years ago, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been busy. Not playing “Don’t Stop Believin’” for the billionth time has afforded him the opportunity to co-found Valroy’s, a Las Vegas-based clothing supplier.
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6. This punk rock drummer also has a history as a chiropractor
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Answer: Terry Chimes
While Terry Chimes played drums for such bands as Hanoi Rocks and Black Sabbath, he’s best known for his on-again-off-again tenure with the Clash. He also liked to re-align people’s hips and spines as a chiropractor.
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7. This legendary rock guitarist is also an astrophysicist
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Answer: Brian May
While the guitar solo on “We Will Rock You” would have been enough to ensure Brian May’s place in the history books, he also decided to use his down time earn a PhD in astrophysics. Next time you see him, be sure and call him “Dr. May.”
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8. This man was a comedy writer for television before becoming a rapper
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Answer: Donald Glover
Donald “Childish Gambino” Glover submitted a script to the grand high muckity-mucks at “The Simpsons” in the hope of getting it used on the show, but while that didn’t happen, it caught the attention of Tina Fey. She hired him to become a writer for the comedy series “30 Rock” when he was just 23 years old, but he could not resist the siren call of the music industry.
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9. This beloved country this singer is also a philanthropist
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Answer: Dolly Parton
Dolly’s songwriting alone has made the world a better place, but she really outdid herself in 2020 when she donated $1 million to COVID-19 vaccine research. Her donation helped make the Moderna vaccine possible, so if you get the ‘Rona and don’t die, thank Dolly.
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10. This under-30 singer is also an actor and a talented shoe designer
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Answer: Zendaya
Zendaya Maree Stoermer Coleman, known mononymously as Zendaya, doesn’t want you to see her just as a musician or someone who’s passed out 75% of the time on the HBO series “Euphoria.” She also has her own shoe collection, called Daya.
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11. This popular American singer authored a New York Times bestselling memoir
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Answer: Bruce Springsteen
The massively overrated Boss is also the author of a memoir, “Born to Run.” The upside of reading his book is not having to hear his singing voice as one would at one of his three-hour concerts.
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12. This electronic musician has been monetizing his veganism for many years
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Answer: Moby
Moby is not just a vegan; he makes money at it! He owns New York City’s vegan restaurant TeaNY and the Little Pine vegan restaurant in Los Angeles, and he also organized the vegan music festival Circle V.
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13. This singer-songwriter also published a magazine focused on fashion and cars
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Answer: Frank Ocean
In 2016, Ocean published the magazine Boys Don’t Cry. It contained pictures by such photographers as Wolfgang Tillmans, Viviane Sassen, and of course, Frank Ocean.
Image Credit: Frank Ocean by Andras Ladocsi (None).
14. This exotic singer set up a venture capital fund
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Answer: Björk
Singer Björk may not be the first person you think of when casting about for venture capital firms, but she is indeed responsible for one. It supports creating sustainable industries in her home country of Iceland, and if anyone is curious whose fund it is, she gave them a big hint by naming it BJÖRK.
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15. This singer designed a gender-neutral children’s clothing line
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Answer: Celine Dion
The woman MTV called the “queen of power ballads“ partnered with the clothing brand NUNUNU to create CELINUNUNU. Yes, they really called it that.
This article was produced and syndicated by MediaFeed.
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