“Fame Is a Drug”: The Clash’s Terry Chimes Talks His Career Change From Music to Medicine

Terry Chimes’ career has had two wildly different parts. After living the rockstar life as the drummer of The Clash, Chimes changed course and became a chiropractor in 1994.

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During a recent appearance on The Chris Moyles Show on Radio X, Chimes noted that he’d always been fascinated by “health and disease.” After considering a career as a veterinarian and even interviewing at medical schools, Chimes realized neither “seem[ed] right” for him.

“And then I looked at The Rolling Stones, and thought, ‘You know, those guys must be having the most fun it’s possible to have,’” he said. “I thought, ‘I’ll just do that then.’”

That decision wound up being a good one, as he joined a band that went on to become The Clash shortly thereafter. He served as the band’s drummer on and off through the ’70s and ’80s.

“But after 15 years of that, I kind of had enough of being on the road and traveling and all the craziness,” he said. “It’s full of crazy people, the music business — I was the only normal person there!”

The Clash’s Terry Chimes Becomes a Chiropractor

At that point, Chimes, who described himself as a “non-drug taking, non-smoking, non-drinking, vegetarian, health nut,” wanted a change. He didn’t leave music fully, though, Chimes went on to drum for bands including Generation X, Hanoi Rocks, and Black Sabbath.

Walking away from music wasn’t easy, though he knew that becoming a chiropractor “made much more sense” in his life.

“Fame is a drug. It’s very hard to walk away from it,” he said. “But the funny thing is, if you walk away, it’ll come running after you. If you chase it, it runs away.”

He opened his chiropractic clinic in Essex in 1994 after an experience with a practitioner left him in awe.

“Once I was in Sun City with Black Sabbath and we went ten-pin bowling. After three hours, my shoulder locked up,” he recalled to The Guardian in 2010. “They said they would find a chiropractor. This guy came in, cracked all my joints and I could move my arm again. It made a big impression.”

Since he’d always “wanted to heal people,” Chimes decided to enroll in a chiropractic course, and his second career path flourished from there.

Photo by Samir Hussein/Getty Images