Names -> Former Career -> Latest Entries
Before the fame arrived, what did performers do to make ends meet?
The 20 most recent entries are listed below. There are 66 Former Career entries on the site.
Name & Band | Former Career | Comments & Submittor Name | ||
| Smashing Pumpkins, Jimmy Chamberlin | Construction worker | Had a job building custom homes with his brother-in-law, after he left the band JP and the Cats. After his stint in construction, he joined the Smashing Pumpkins - Ra'akone | ||
| Smashing Pumpkins, Billy Corgan | worked at a records store | While there, he met future bandmate James Iha. - Ra'akone | ||
| Jethro Tull, Ian Anderson | Vendor at a news stand | During his lunch breaks there, he read copies of "Melody Maker" and "New Musical Express", that inspired him to join a band. - Ra'akone | ||
| The Yardbirds, Chris Dreja | Photographer | This could have gone in the "New Career" as well...was a photographer from when he left in 1968 to when the Yardbirds were resurrected in 1992. He was offered a chance to be the bassist of the "New Yardbirds", a band Jimmy Page formed, in part to fulfill all the Yardbirds' concert commitments in 1968, but he declined, wanting to pursue photography. He did, however, take a picture of this band, that was used on the cover of their first album. He is also one of the people credited with having given the "New Yardbirds" their final name, supposedly saying that the band would go over "like a lead zeppelin" - Ra'akone | ||
| Elvis Presley, Elvis Presley | Shabbos Goy | besides truck driver, he did a number of odd jobs, including a Shabbos goy...a goy (non-Jew) hired by religious Jewish people to do things on the Sabbath that they aren't allowed to do. - Ra'akone | ||
| Pearl Jam, Eddie Vedder | Gas station attendant | E-Ved was working as a gas station attendant when Jack Irons passed the demo tape onto him, which he then put vocals onto and became lead singer of Pearl Jam - GUILLOTINEinc | ||
| Leona Lewis, Leona Lewis | Secretary | Leona Lewis was a secretary before auditioning for Simon Cowell's show "The X-Factor" in England. - Trish | ||
| Madison Drive, Daniel Bracken (Real Name Daniel Phillips) | Starbuck's Assistant Manager | Daniel Bracken, one of the two lead singers for the band Madison Drive, used to be a Starbuck's Assistant Manager - Jason | ||
| Ozzy Ozborne, Ozzy Ozborne | He was a plumber. | Before Black Sabbath, John "Ozzy" Ozborne was a plumber. - Wade Brock | ||
| Andrea True Connection, Andrea True | Porno actress | - crazydon | ||
| My Chemical Romance, Bob Bryar | Disney World Drummer | he played drums for The Little Mermaid and Aladdan, and quit because the other staff members yelled at him for having side burns. - Someone | ||
| Panic! at the Disco, Jon Walker | Starbucks | Yeah :) - Someone | ||
| My Chemical Romance, Gerard Way | Cartoonist | he was working for Cartoon Network and quit his job after witnessing 9/11, later to start My Chemical Romance shortly after. - Someone | ||
| Mike Reid, Mike Reid | NFL Player | This Grammy-winning songwriter and singer played 5 seasons as a defensive lineman for the Cincinnati Bengals. - Todd W. Zimmerman | ||
| Carla Bruni, Carla Bruni | Fashion Model | - Raphael | ||
| John Tesh, John Tesh | Sports reporter/entertainment anchor | Tesh first reported for CBS. He then became co-anchor with Mary Hart on "Entertainment Tonight", and did some reporting on figure skating for NBC. One of his first piano compositions was played on "E.T" while he was still an anchor. (He's still married to actress Connie Sellecca, BTW.) - sports | ||
| Sheryl Crow, Sheryl Crow | Music teacher | This was even before she was a backup singer for Michael Jackson. - Martha Hankins | ||
| Martina McBride, Martina McBride | T-shirt vendor | Sold shirts at Garth Brooks concerts before breaking into country music herself. - Martha Hankins | ||
| The Judds, Naomi Judd | Nurse | Originally known as Diana Ciminella, Naomi Judd was a nurse, before she and her daughter, formerly known as Christina Ciminella, formed the trio known as the Judds, adopting the names Naomi Judd and Wynonna Judd in the process. - Adrienne Ramseur | ||
| Nirvana, Kurt Cobain | Janitor | Dropped out of High School and the only job he could find was as the janitor at the high school that he dropped out of. - Ryan |
New entries in this section are currently reviewed by Below Average Dave. Previous editors (if any) are listed on the editors page.
The Top Ten Contributors To This Section
| Susanna Viljanen | 6 |
| Ra'akone | 5 |
| Someone | 3 |
| Celeste | 3 |
| Adrienne Ramseur | 2 |
| crazydon | 2 |
| Anonymous | 2 |
| bridget | 2 |
| Saiyandudette | 2 |
| Michael E Cormier | 2 |
Submissions
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