These 4 Rock Stars Had Incredibly Normal Jobs Before Becoming Famous

It’s hard to think of rock stars as anything other than, well, rock stars. But some of the most successful rock stars had incredibly normal jobs before becoming famous, including these four singers.

Sting

Before Sting became the lead singer of The Police, followed by launching his own solo career, he was known as Mr. Sumner. Sting’s real name is Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, and he became a teacher before switching careers.

Sting attended Northern Counties College of Education, where he taught at a Catholic school, St. Paul’s First School, in England for two years. But even while he was teaching, Sting was performing on nights and weekends. Fortunately for music fans everywhere, music won out, and he left his teaching job to pursue music full-time.

In 1977, Sting formed The Police with Stewart Copeland, Henry Padovani, and Andy Summers. In 1979, they had their first hit single with “Roxanne”.

David Lee Roth

David Lee Roth attended Pasadena City College after high school, although he did not graduate. For a while, Roth worked as an orderly in a hospital until his music career took off. 

But from early on, Roth had the music bug.  While still a teenager, Roth began performing both solo gigs and as part of an R&B band, Red Ball Jets. Interestingly, while Roth was with the Red Ball Jets, he met members of another group, Mammoth, which included brothers Alex Van Halen and Eddie Van Halen. Roth later joined the brothers. It was also Roth’s idea to change the band’s name to Van Halen.

Patti Smith

Before Patti Smith became a full-time singer-songwriter, she had a decidedly uncreative job, working in a factory. The daughter of a father who also worked in a factory, Smith did briefly attend Glassboro State College in New Jersey, studying to become an art teacher, although she did not graduate.

Needing to support herself, Smith found a job in a factory. But Smith was understandably dissatisfied with factory work. She ultimately relocated from New Jersey to New York City, with a goal of pursuing her love of art in some form. In 1975, Smith’s iconic Horses album was released.

Eddie Vedder

Eddie Vedder was drawn to music from an early age. Still, his love of music wasn’t enough to support Vedder, who did not graduate from high school. While still a teenager, Vedder began working at a drugstore in Encinitas, California.

Vedder did start pursuing music as a teenager and young adult, making demo tapes in his home. But still unable to pay his bills with music, Vedder worked as a security guard at The Valencia Hotel in La Jolla, California. 

By the late 1980s, Vedder began performing in bands while still doing odd jobs, including working at a gas station. In 1990, Vedder wrote three songs, all recorded by Pearl Jam, Vedder’s first band, including “Alive”.

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