In rap music, there’s an old joke. Rappers want to be basketball players and basketball players want to be rappers. Well, that “grass is always greener” mentality is not just specific to hip-hop. It can be found in many lines of work, including in other sports, from track and field to baseball and football. That’s why MTV invented Rock N’ Jock.
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In fact, here are seven musicians you likely didn’t know who were formerly successful athletes. We’re not talking about people who went into a studio for a day and cut a bad song between road games. No, these are serious musicians who came up as serious athletes.
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1. Charley Pride (Baseball)
From 1966 to 1987, country star Charley Pride garnered 52 top-10 songs on the Billboard country charts. A whopping 30 of those hit No. 1. But if you asked Pride, his most significant hits may have come earlier in his life with a baseball bat.
For about six years, before his recording career began, Pride worked as a professional baseball player, suiting up for Negro League and Major League Baseball teams. He was a pitcher before suffering an injury that caused him to lose speed on his fastball. Later in his career, he and another player were traded to the Birmingham Black Barons for a bus. (Years later, Michael Jordan played for the Birmingham Barons during his stint away from basketball.)
Pride was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1956, playing on his base’s baseball team. After that, he played for the Memphis Red Sox. At some point along his baseball journey, a team manager paid him to sing before each game, which helped increase attendance. Much later, in 2008, Pride was drafted by an MLB team to honor his achievements in the Negro League. He was picked by the Texas Rangers.
2. Billy Ray Cyrus (Baseball)
Before he was a country star, and way before he was the father to big-time artists Miley and Noah Cyrus, and long before he was featured on the hit “Old Town Road” from Lil Nas X, Billy Ray Cyrus was a student at Georgetown University on a baseball scholarship. He late dropped out, and feeling aimless, moved to Nashville where his music life changed, starting in his early 30s. He’s since traded the bat and glove for a microphone, singing, “Achy Breaky Heart.”
3. Marvin Gaye (Basketball, Football)
Today, Marvin Gaye is known as one of the smoothest singers ever to walk the Earth. But the Motown man and Detroit artist has long been associated with the game of basketball. Not only did he sing the definitive national anthem ahead of the 1983 NBA all-star game, but Gaye was also a prominent basketball player in Motor City. While he never went pro, he often played with the pros at one of the city’s prominent gyms, St. Cecilia. In his upcoming memoir, basketball player Earl Cureton even talks about Gaye stopping by the gym to play with local legends like George Gevin. But that’s not all, Gaye also got a football tryout in 1970 with the Detroit Lions during his lifetime.
4. Rod Stewart (Soccer)
Growing up, Rod Stewart’s family was big into soccer—er, football. The London-born singer’s father played in local amateur leagues. He also coached—er, managed—some teams. Of his family, Rod was the most talented player, known for both his talent and reckless abandon. He was the captain of his high school team. But he left school at 15 and wanted to be a professional player. He tried out for the Brentford F.C. team, but later said in his 2012 memoir, “Well, a musician’s life is a lot easier and I can also get drunk and make music, and I can’t do that and play football. I plumped for music … They’re the only two things I can do actually: play football and sing.”
5. Prince (Basketball)
It is well known thanks to the Dave Chappelle comedy show that Prince is an avid basketball fan. If you haven’t seen the skit, watch it now. Two words: Game. Blouses. But it’s true, Prince was an avid basketball fan. He played in school growing up (check this photo) and continued to hoop as an adult for fun. While the diminutive musician may not have had a career in basketball ahead of him, it was admirable he kept it up well into adulthood.
6. Garth Brooks (Track & Field)
Known as one of the most successful country musicians of all time, both as a songwriter and as someone who performs in giant stadiums, Garth Brooks got a taste for stadiums early on as an accomplished athlete. As a kid, he wanted to be a professional athlete, playing football and baseball and running track & field. Brooks even earned a scholarship to Oklahoma State University, competing in javelin. Soon, a job as a bouncer led him to play songs live and the rest is history. But prior to all the music, Brooks’ passion was on the field.
7. Bernie Williams
The most accomplished athlete on this list, Bernie Williams was a multi-time all-star center fielder of the champion New York Yankees in the ’90s and early 2000s. But Williams carved out a successful music career for himself, too, releasing two guitar-centric albums—The Journey Within in 2003 and Moving Forward in 2009. He even performed with his band live on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Williams also earned himself a Latin Grammy nomination for his 2009 LP. It’s admirable what he was able to do in two difficult fields.
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