Diploma, schliploma! Who needs a degree?
Videos by American Songwriter
There are many examples of famous musicians who flouted finishing high school and instead dove deeply into their careers early on. People who knew exactly what they wanted and were good at, what their lives were meant for, and kept their focus and eyes on the prize, even if it didn’t include the formal classroom.
Here are nine musicians who dropped out of high school to pursue their passion.
1. Ozzy Osbourne
Ozzy Osbourne had a horrible time in school. Though it’s the place where he got his nickname, the young student dealt with learning disabilities like dyslexia. He has also said he endured sexual abuse from school bullies as young as 11 years old. He left school at 15 to pursue work in construction. He studied plumbing, did construction, apprenticed as a toolmaker and more jobs of this kind. As a teenager, Ozzy spent six weeks in prison after stealing from a clothing shop. His father refused to pay the fine. School of hard knocks, indeed.
2. Cher
Cher dropped out of high school at 16 years old and moved to Los Angeles to start her career. Even in high school, she stood out. One former classmate said in the book, Cher, by Connie Berman “[Cher] was so special … She was like a movie star, right then and there.” Nevertheless, she was gone. Even Cher herself said when she was in school she wasn’t really in school, instead daydreaming about more. Not long after she moved to LA, she met Sonny Bono.
3. Courtney Love
Courtney Love’s father was a former road manager for the Grateful Dead. As one might imagine, she grew up in a wild household that she’s since criticized. Love says she was diagnosed as autistic as a young person, and she also struggled in school. As a teenager, she emancipated herself from her mother. She dropped out of school, moved to Japan and worked as a topless dancer. Later, she became one of the biggest names in rock with Hole and as the wife of the late Kurt Cobain.
4. Billie Joe Armstrong
The frontman for Green Day dropped out of high school on his 18th birthday. Wasting no time.
5. Mary J. Blige
Mary J. Blige also had a tough childhood. She endured sexual abuse at five years old from a family friend. Later, she used drugs and sex to cope with feelings of depression and pain. She dropped out of high school as a junior. However, a year later, after working in a band and recording some solo demos, Blige signed her first record deal in 1989.
6. Kurt Cobain
Learning that he was a few credits away from graduating in his senior year, Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain dropped out of high school two weeks before the end of the year. His mother then gave him an ultimatum to get a job or leave the house. A week later, she packed his clothes. Amazingly, Cobain would later become the biggest name in rock music, though he died tragically at 27.
7. Ringo Starr
The future drummer for the Beatles suffered from severe illnesses as a child and was subsequently kept out of school for long periods of time, often while he was in the hospital. As a result, even by eight, he couldn’t read. At one point, thanks to tutoring, he caught up to his peers. But then Ringo caught tuberculosis and had to be again hospitalized for two years. During this time, he was encouraged to play in a little hospital band and he began to love the drums. And he never went back to school.
8. Jay-Z
Jay-Z is worth several billion dollars. Yet the rapper and businessman dropped out of high school during his sophomore year. Prior, he’d gone to Eli Whitney High School in Brooklyn, but then it closed. Then he went to George Westinghouse Career and Technical Education High School, where, incredibly, rappers The Notorious B.I.G. and Busta Rhymes were attending. However, even those future legends couldn’t get him to stay and Jay was gone. He famously sold drugs before putting that aside to dive into a career in music.
9. Avril Lavigne
The “Complicated” singer didn’t have complicated feelings when it came to school. Instead, she just wanted to break up. An MVP hockey player growing up, Lavigne nevertheless left high school, with her parents’ blessing, after securing her first record deal. When singles like “Sk8r Boi” took off, she knew she was on the right track.
Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images
