Singers before fame
How 10 superstars made ends meet before they were famous
Image: See page for author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
It’s hard to picture Elvis Presley behind the wheel of a delivery truck, Johnny Cash in the U.S. Air Force, or Tina Turner working in a hospital. But before they became icons, these music legends had ordinary jobs and different plans for their lives. Some worked in factories, some waited tables, and others had careers that had nothing to do with music. Here are 10 generational musicians whose lives before fame may surprise you.
1
Elvis Presley
Just two years before "Heartbreak Hotel" catapulted him to worldwide fame in 1956, Elvis was working as a truck driver and deliveryman in Memphis, Tennessee.
He started at Crown Electric Company on April 20, 1954, earning $1 an hour to deliver electrical supplies to local job sites while hoping to train as an electrician. But everything changed that June, when Sun Records owner Sam Phillips remembered a recording Elvis had made a few years earlier as a gift for his mother and called him into the studio. They recorded a high-energy version of Arthur Crudup’s blues song "That’s All Right," which became Elvis’s first hit. Even after the song hit local radio stations, Elvis didn’t quit his job right away; he continued driving until mid-October 1954, when his touring schedule made it impossible to keep working a 40-hour week.
2
Johnny Cash
We all know Johnny Cash for hits like "I Walk the Line" and "Ring of Fire," but before becoming a country music legend, he had a totally different career.
In 1950, at 18, Cash enlisted in the U.S. Air Force during the Cold War. Stationed in Landsberg, West Germany, he worked as a Morse code intercept operator, transcribing secret Soviet transmissions. According to his 1997 autobiography, he was the first American to learn of Joseph Stalin’s death on March 5, 1953 , after decoding the Soviet message announcing it. But the Air Force also brought Cash closer to music. While in Germany, he bought his first guitar for 20 Deutsche Marks (about $5 at the time) and began writing songs and performing for fellow soldiers. Several years later, after moving to Memphis, Cash took the lyrics to "Folsom Prison Blues" to Sam Phillips, the same man who helped launch Elvis Presley’s career.
3
Madonna
Can you imagine walking into Dunkin’ Donuts for a coffee and being served by Madonna? If you lived in New York City in the late ’70s, it could have happened.
Madonna moved from her native Michigan to New York in 1978 at age 20, dreaming of becoming a singer and dancer. With just $35 in her pocket, she needed a job to pay the rent, and landed her first one at Dunkin’ Donuts in Times Square. But it lasted only a week. As she later recalled, she was fired for playing with the jelly-squirter machine. Over the next few years, Madonna took cassette recordings of her songs to producers, nightclubs, and DJs around the city. Her persistence paid off in 1982, when she gave a tape to Mark Kamins, a DJ at Danceteria. He played her song "Everybody," and the crowd loved it.
4
Tina Turner
Before becoming one of the world’s greatest voices and performers, Tina Turner worked at a hospital.
Born Anna Mae Bullock in November 1939, she graduated from Sumner High School in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1958 and got a job as a nurse’s aide at the city’s Barnes-Jewish Hospital, hoping to pursue a career in medicine. But music soon changed her plans. She and her sister often visited clubs where Ike Turner performed with the Kings of Rhythm. One night, a drummer handed Tina the microphone, and Ike was so impressed by her voice that he invited her to sing with the group. For a while, Turner worked at the hospital by day and performed at night, but that changed in 1960, when she recorded "A Fool in Love" with Ike. The song became a huge hit, and touring demands forced her to leave her hospital job behind.
5
Chuck Berry
Before becoming the Father of Rock and Roll with hits like "Johnny B. Goode," Chuck Berry had some surprisingly ordinary jobs.
After leaving a youth reformatory in 1947, Berry settled in St. Louis, got married, and found work on General Motors’ auto assembly line. While working at the factory, he developed a love for cars (which later showed up in songs like "Maybellene") and continued his longtime passion: playing guitar. In the early 1950s, he began exploring other fields, and in 1953, he left the factory to work as a professional hairstylist and cosmetologist, a job that allowed him to play guitar at local clubs on weekends. His ordinary life changed in 1955 when Berry showed up right at Chess Records' doors with his songs. That July, "Maybellene" became a huge hit and launched his music career.
6
Axl Rose
After seeing Axl Rose on stage, it’s hard to imagine him doing anything other than music. But he certainly did.
Born William Bruce Rose Jr. on February 6, 1962, in Lafayette, Indiana, he moved to Los Angeles in 1982 and formed a band named Hollywood Rose. During those years, he took a job as a clerk at Tower Records on Sunset Boulevard. He was pretty good at it and was eventually promoted to store manager. In his new position, he hired Saul Hudson, better known as Slash, who would later become his bandmate. They were both fired from Tower Records in 1984, but they didn’t give up on music. In June 1985, Rose joined Izzy Stradlin, Duff McKagan, Slash, and Steven Adler to form Guns N’ Roses. After building a following in LA bars, a Geffen Records executive saw the band perform, and they were finally signed to a major deal in 1986.
7
Cyndi Lauper
We tend to imagine famous artists as having glamorous lives, but many had difficult beginnings. That was the case for Cyndi Lauper, who, in 1970, dropped out of school and left her home in Queens at 17 to escape her abusive stepfather.
She left with little more than a toothbrush, an apple, her cat, and some art supplies. In those early years, she relied partly on unemployment checks and money from panhandling. But she needed a steady income to support herself while pursuing her dreams. So she took on a series of odd jobs, working as a dog kennel assistant, personal assistant, vintage clothing clerk, and even a horse walker at Belmont Park racetrack. Her life finally began to change in 1981 when David Wolff discovered her singing covers at a New York piano bar and became her manager.
8
Duke Ellington
As a child growing up in Washington, D.C., in the early 1900s, Edward Kennedy Ellington was actually more interested in baseball than the piano.
At just 7, he would skip piano lessons to play baseball. His love for the sport became a way to earn money when he took a job as a vendor at Washington Senators games, selling peanuts, popcorn, cigars, and candy from around 1908 to 1912. But as a teenager, his interests began to change. At 14, he started sneaking into Frank Holliday’s Poolroom, where hearing local ragtime pianists sparked his passion for music. By 1914, Duke had written his first song, and over the years, his talent made him a local star. In 1923, he moved to New York City, and four years later, his big break came when his orchestra became the house band at Harlem’s famous Cotton Club.
9
Neil Diamond
It’s hard to believe, but the man who gave us "Sweet Caroline" once imagined a life in medicine — and was a talented fencer, too.
After his grandmother died of cancer, young Neil Diamond dreamed of becoming a doctor or biologist so he could help find a cure. In 1958, he went to New York University on a fencing scholarship and studied pre-med, while also helping his team win the 1960 NCAA men’s fencing championship. But just 10 credits short of graduating, he took a job doing what he loved most. For about 4 months, he worked writing songs for Sunbeam Music Publishing for $50 a week. That job changed everything, and Diamond eventually dropped out of college to pursue music full-time. His career took off in 1965 when producers Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich helped him land a deal with Bang Records.
10
Patti Smith
What does Patti Smith have to do with tricycles? It sounds like a strange question, but before becoming the "Queen of Punk," Smith worked in a factory inspecting parts for baby strollers and tricycles.
At 16, while growing up in New Jersey, she took a summer job at a factory checking metal pipes and handlebars for defects. After graduating high school in 1964, she returned to the factory full-time while briefly attending Glassboro State Teachers College. In 1967, she dropped out and moved to New York City, where she worked at a Brentano’s bookstore while struggling to get by. After years in the city’s underground music scene, Smith finally broke through with her legendary 1975 album, Horses.
