Before the stage lights and platinum records, many famous musicians worked regular jobs. Some taught classes, some pilots flew helicopters, and others baked bread or cleaned up at a slaughterhouse.
These early careers shaped their habits, their stories, and sometimes their songs. Here are 14 artists whose first jobs may surprise you.
1. Sting: Teacher
Long before he fronted The Police, Gordon Sumner spent time in a classroom. He taught English at St. Paul’s First School in Cramlington, England, working with young children in the 1970s.
He also played jazz in local bands at night. That double life gave him a steady paycheck while he looked for a bigger break.
Fun fact: the nickname Sting reportedly came from a black and yellow striped sweater he wore on stage. A bandmate thought he looked like a bee.
Teaching taught him how to hold a room, which is a handy skill for any performer. Once The Police took off in the late 1970s, he left school for good.
His songwriting still shows a teacher’s love of books and clear storytelling, with references to literature in several hits.
2. Sheryl Crow: Elementary School Music Teacher
Picture a music room filled with recorders, xylophones, and eager second graders. That was Sheryl Crow’s daily world in the 1980s, when she taught music at an elementary school in Fenton, Missouri.
She had graduated from the University of Missouri with a music degree. Teaching paid the bills while she sang at night with local bands and recorded jingles.
Eventually she moved to Los Angeles and landed work as a backup singer for Michael Jackson on his Bad tour. That gig opened doors to her own record deal.
Her debut album in 1993 and the hit All I Wanna Do made her a star. Many fans still remember that she once helped children find a beat, long before she won Grammy Awards.
3. Andrea Bocelli: Court-Appointed Lawyer
Opera fans know his glorious tenor, but Andrea Bocelli once argued cases instead of singing arias. After studying law at the University of Pisa, he worked for a time as a court-appointed lawyer in Italy.
Music never left his life, though. He sang in piano bars in the evenings and took voice lessons with the famed tenor Franco Corelli.
A big turning point came in 1992, when rock star Zucchero asked him to record a demo of a song. That recording reached tenor Luciano Pavarotti, who praised his voice.
Bocelli’s win at the 1994 Sanremo Music Festival launched his international career. He has since sold millions of albums, proving that a courtroom can be a surprising starting point for a singer.
4. Julio Iglesias: Real Madrid Youth Goalkeeper
Saving shots came before singing ballads for Julio Iglesias. As a teenager, he played goalkeeper for the youth team of Real Madrid, one of the biggest soccer clubs in the world.
He dreamed of a professional sports career. Then, at around age 20, a serious car accident left him partly paralyzed and ended that plan.
During his long recovery in the hospital, a nurse gave him a guitar. He began writing songs to pass the time and rebuild strength in his hands.
In 1968 he won a song contest in Spain, and his smooth, romantic style soon spread across the globe. Today he is counted among the best-selling artists of all time, with albums in many languages.
5. Debbie Harry: Playboy Bunny
New York in the late 1960s and early 1970s was a place where artists tried every job imaginable. Debbie Harry, later the voice of Blondie, worked as a waitress at the Playboy Club, where staff wore the Bunny costume.
She also tried other jobs, including secretary work at the BBC’s New York office and waiting tables at a famous club called Max’s Kansas City.
Those jobs kept her afloat while she sang in folk and rock groups. She soon teamed up with guitarist Chris Stein, and Blondie formed in 1974.
By the late 1970s the band had chart-toppers such as Heart of Glass and Call Me. Harry said later she did not love the Bunny job, but it helped pay rent while she found her voice.
6. Ozzy Osbourne: Slaughterhouse Worker
Hard labor shaped the young man who would become the Prince of Darkness. Ozzy Osbourne grew up in a working-class family in Birmingham, England, and left school at 15.
He took a string of tough jobs. He worked in a slaughterhouse, labored as a construction hand, and even tuned car horns in a factory.
He also spent a short time in jail for burglary as a teenager. After that, he decided he needed a different path.
He answered a notice looking for a singer and joined a band that became Black Sabbath in 1968. Their heavy, dark sound helped create heavy metal.
Osbourne has often said that factory life pushed him to chase music.
7. Gene Simmons: Sixth-Grade Teacher
Behind the fire-breathing stage persona of KISS was once a classroom teacher with a tie and a grade book. Gene Simmons taught sixth grade in Harlem, New York, in the early 1970s.
Born Chaim Witz in Israel, he moved to New York as a boy and attended Sullivan County Community College. He also worked as an assistant editor at a magazine and other odd jobs.
He formed KISS in 1973 with Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley, and Peter Criss. The group adopted face paint and wild costumes.
Simmons has noted that teaching taught him patience and discipline. Those traits helped as the band built a huge brand with albums, tours, and merchandise lasting for decades.
8. Jack White: Upholsterer
Jack White likes to say he makes things with his hands. Before The White Stripes, he ran a small upholstery business in Detroit called Third Man Upholstery.
He trained as an apprentice upholsterer as a teenager and learned the craft of repairing furniture. His company slogan was said to be: Your Furniture’s Not Dead.
He sometimes tucked poems or small notes inside the furniture he repaired. Some of that spirit shows in his DIY approach to music.
The White Stripes formed in 1997 and broke through in the early 2000s with Seven Nation Army. White later named his record label Third Man Records, a nod to his earlier trade.
9. Tom Morello: Staffer for U.S. Senator Alan Cranston
Guitar heroes rarely list a Senate office on their resumes, but Tom Morello can. After graduating from Harvard University with a degree in political science, he worked as a scheduler for California Senator Alan Cranston.
He moved to Los Angeles and kept playing in bands in his free time. The day job paid the rent, though he later said he was not very happy there.
He eventually quit and focused on music full time. In 1991 he joined Rage Against the Machine, a band known for mixing rock, rap, and political messages.
His inventive guitar sounds, made with pedals and switches, made him famous. His political background still shows in the themes of his songs.
10. Johnny Cash: U.S. Air Force Morse Code Operator
Dots and dashes filled Johnny Cash’s days in the early 1950s. He joined the U.S.
Air Force and served as a Morse code operator in West Germany, listening to Soviet radio signals.
He reportedly was among the first to hear news of Joseph Stalin’s death in 1953. Keeping that kind of watch took focus and a good ear.
During his time off, he bought a guitar and began writing songs, including early versions of Folsom Prison Blues. He formed a small band with other servicemen.
After leaving the Air Force in 1954, he went to Memphis and signed with Sun Records. His deep voice and plain-spoken songs made him one of country music’s biggest names.
11. Elvis Costello: Computer Operator
A mainframe computer room might seem an odd place for a future songwriter. Yet Declan MacManus, later known as Elvis Costello, worked as a computer operator at a Elizabeth Arden cosmetics factory in London.
He typed data into large machines during the day. At night, he played in pubs and wrote songs on the train ride home.
He sent demo tapes to record labels and in 1977 signed with Stiff Records. He chose the stage name Elvis Costello, mixing the name of the King of Rock and his mother’s maiden name.
His debut album My Aim Is True arrived that year and was praised for sharp lyrics. Songs like Alison and Watching the Detectives made him a leading voice of new wave.
12. Harry Styles: Bakery Employee
Fresh bread and pastries were part of Harry Styles’s teenage years. He worked at W.
Mandeville Bakery in his hometown of Holmes Chapel, England, helping behind the counter.
He took the job while still in school, saving money like many teens do. He also sang in a local band called White Eskimo.
In 2010, at age 16, he auditioned for The X Factor as a solo act. Judges placed him in a group with four other singers, and One Direction was born.
The band became a global success with several number-one albums. Styles later launched a solo career with hits like Watermelon Sugar and As It Was, and he still remembers his bakery days fondly.
13. Art Garfunkel: Math Teacher
Art Garfunkel’s voice is one of the sweetest in folk music, but his mind has always loved numbers. He earned a bachelor’s degree in art history at Columbia University and then pursued a master’s degree in mathematics.
He began work on a doctorate and took a job teaching math at a private school in Connecticut. He taught while still performing and recording.
He had been singing with Paul Simon since they were boys in Queens, New York. Their harmonies on songs like The Sound of Silence and Bridge Over Troubled Water became classics.
Garfunkel has said that math gave him comfort and a feeling of order. He even kept a list of every book he read, a habit he began in 1968.
14. Kris Kristofferson: U.S. Army Helicopter Pilot
Few songwriters can say they once flew helicopters for the Army. Kris Kristofferson graduated from Pomona College, became a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, and then joined the U.S.
Army, where he became a helicopter pilot.
He was offered a teaching job at West Point. Instead, he left the military in 1965 and moved to Nashville to chase songwriting.
He took low-paying jobs, including sweeping floors at Columbia Records studios and flying helicopters for oil rigs. He kept writing songs at night.
His efforts paid off when artists recorded Me and Bobby McGee, Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down, and For the Good Times. He also became a film actor.
His honest lyrics still inspire writers today.
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