Sometimes, formulating a complex web of lies to serve as one’s backstory just makes a musician even more interesting. The following four classic rock musicians and bands did exactly that, and some of the things they lied about are kind of hilarious… while others are kind of sad. Let’s take a look!
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David Bowie
This one’s a bit complicated. David Bowie, famously known for being a bisexual icon, famously said ahead of the Ziggy Stardust era that he was gay and “always have been, even when I was David Jones.” In 1976, he said that he was bisexual, and presented it in a way that made fans think he was just understanding himself more as he got older.
What surprised people was that in the 1980s, Bowie said that he was “a closeted heterosexual” and regretted declaring his bisexuality. Even today, Bowie’s true inclinations while he was alive aren’t really well-known. But, as Mark Easton once posed: “Would gay rights, gender equality legislation or same-sex marriage have enjoyed the broad support they do today without Bowie’s androgynous challenge all those years ago? I suspect not. He gave space to oddity… and made it cool.”
Bob Dylan
I have to admit, this one still makes me laugh. Bob Dylan was just telling wild lies for fun back in the day. According to lore, during one of Dylan’s first recorded interviews on a radio show took place, he claimed he worked and lived at a carnival as a “clean-up boy” and would run the Ferris Wheel. In reality, Dylan was raised in a small town in a normal working-class family. Dylan is also quoted as saying, “all the truth in the world adds up to one big lie,” so it doesn’t appear that he’s ever felt particularly guilty about fibbing.
Jim Morrison
This famous example of a classic rock star who lied made quite a few people angry. The Doors’ Jim Morrison had once told the tale of how his parents and siblings had died. However… his parents and siblings were alive and well.
But, considering the truth behind Morrison’s childhood, I’m not surprised that he opted to lie. Morrison’s upbringing was very strict, and his Navy father would often dish out military-grade discipline and punishment. Once Morrison got out of the situation and started school, he cut off his family. It was probably just easier to say that his family was dead, and it also added an essence of mystery to the rock star.
“He liked mystique, too,” Morrison’s very much alive sister, Anne, once said. “He didn’t want to be from somewhere.”
The White Stripes
Honestly, this one is kind of inevitable. However, there is some debate over whether or not The White Stripes should be considered classic rock, considering they came to be in the 1990s. I’ll include them here regardless, because they lied about one of the wildest things in classic rock history.
The White Stripes gained prominence in the early aughts, and they told the press that they were brother and sister. Only, they weren’t siblings at all. In fact, they were divorcees who had married each other back in 1996 and divorced in 2000. When the cat was let out of the bag, Jack White said in a roundabout way that peddling themselves as siblings instead of divorcees made them more “interesting.”
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